Milwaukee Film is presenting its 2026 Michael Schultz Award to actor, writer and director Kasi Lemmons, kicking off a weekend tribute built around three of her films. The honor, named for Milwaukee-native filmmaker Michael Schultz, goes to a distinguished Black filmmaker whose work reflects the same artistic excellence, cultural impact and visionary spirit that defined his career. Lemmons, who acted in Candyman before building her own directing career, will be celebrated with screenings, conversations and a Q&A at the Oriental Theatre.
The award itself is still a young tradition. According to Milwaukee Film, the Michael Schultz Award was established in 2025 as an annual honor, and the 2026 presentation to Lemmons marks its second iteration, according to a press release submitted by Milwaukee Film and published by Urban Milwaukee. Milwaukee Film named Lemmons the recipient during the week of Nov. 2, 2026, according to that press release.
A Weekend Built Around Three Films
The tribute unfolds over two nights at the Oriental Theatre. Candyman screens Friday night, with a Milwaukee Film-submitted press release listing the showtime as 9 p.m. on Nov. 13. Saturday brings Talk to Me at 2 p.m., followed by a director Q&A, and the night closes with Eve's Bayou at 7 p.m., preceded by the awards presentation and an extended Q&A session.
Milwaukee Film will also hold a pre-screening conversation with Lemmons and a post-screening Q&A featuring both Lemmons and Schultz, rounding out a weekend built entirely around her work. The three-film slate echoes how the organization marked the award's debut last year, when, as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, Schultz himself received the inaugural honor at an in-person event at the Oriental Theatre on Sept. 13, 2025, with screenings of Cooley High, Car Wash and The Last Dragon.
A Harlem Renaissance Film Rounds Out the Picks
Beyond the award weekend, Kristopher Pollard of Milwaukee Film also flagged another title for viewers on this week's installment of Flick Picks with Milwaukee Film, a recurring 12 News This Morning segment that airs every Tuesday at 6 a.m. That pick was Once Upon a Time in Harlem, a documentary by genre-defying filmmaker William Greaves, completed by his son, David Greaves, according to WISN.
The film was shot over the course of two days in 1972 and captured intimate conversations among Harlem Renaissance figures gathered at Duke Ellington's home, more than five decades before this week's broadcast, per WISN's report. It stands as a markedly different kind of selection from the genre films anchoring the Schultz Award weekend, but both picks point to Milwaukee Film's continued focus on Black filmmaking history and craft.
