BLADENBORO — The internationally acclaimed Sundance Film Festival will include a documentary about the death of Lennon Lacy.
“Always in Season” is one of 16 world-premiere American documentaries in the U.S. Documentary Competition, the website for the Sundance Institute says. This grouping is described as “documentaries that illuminate the ideas, people and events that shape the present day.”
“Always in Season” is about the death of the 17-year-old found hanging from a swing set in 2014.
In the website’s description of the film directed by Jacqueline Olive, it reads, “When 17-year-old Lennon Lacy is found hanging from a swing set in rural North Carolina in 2014, his mother’s search for justice and reconciliation begins as the trauma of more than a century of lynching African-Americans bleeds into the present.”
Producers of the film are Olive and Jessica Devaney; Olive and Don Bernier are the writers; Sheandra Sterling is credited as the researcher.
Lacy’s death was ruled a suicide. His mother and state NAACP officials questioned that finding. His family said sneakers he was wearing when his body was found were not his and two sizes too small.
The family and some members of the community believed his death was a hate crime.
The festival screenings are Jan. 24 through Feb. 3 in Utah at Park City, Salt Lake City and the Sundance Mountain Resort.
The event is the institute’s flagship public program alongside festivals in London and Hong Kong during the year. Robert Redford is the president and founder of the institute.
“Society relies on storytellers,” Redford says on the website. “The choices they make, and the risks they take, define our collective experience. This year’s Festival is full of storytellers who offer challenges, questions and entertainment. In telling their stories, they make difficult decisions in the pursuit of truth and art; culture reaps the reward.”
The film is one of 112 selected. They represent 33 countries, 45 first-time filmmakers, with 53 percent directed by women and 41 percent directed by people of color.
There were 14,259 submissions, including 4,018 feature-length films.
‘Always in Season’ makes its world premiere in January at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.