The new documentary Descendant had its screening at the 20th Annual Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival at the Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, and the screening came with a surprise appearance from former President Barack Obama along with former First Lady Michelle Obama. The two appeared on stage to join executive producer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, director Margaret Brown, and festival programmers Stephanie and Floyd Rance.
After the screening, Thompson and Brown would speak more about the movie in a Q&A session. They were joined by producers Essie Chambers and Kyle Martin, co-producer Dr. Kern Jackson, and film subjects Joycelyn Davis and Rose “Veda” Tunstall. Historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris moderated the session.
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Since exiting the White House, the Obamas have turned to producing content through an exclusive deal with Netflix. This includes Descendant, which is executive produced by the Obamas’ production company Higher Ground Productions. Other projects introduced by the Obamas through this deal include Michelle Obama’s children’s cooking show Waffles + Mochi as well as Barack Obama’s Emmy-nominated docuseries Our Great National Parks.
Descendant Has Already Performed Well on the Festival Circuit
Netflix
A Higher Ground and Night Tide production, in association with Two One Five Entertainment, Descendant was a special jury prize winner at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Set to start streaming this fall on Netflix, you can read the official synopsis for the movie below.
Back in 2018, when the Obamas first signed their deal with Netflix, they spoke out about the type of content that they were looking forward to bringing to the streaming platform. The goal was to shine a light for those who otherwise may not get the opportunity to have their stories told. As a statement from Barack Obama noted at the time:
Michelle added a statement of her own.
Descendant comes to Netflix this fall.
