Danielle Deadwyler is set to receive the Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) Award for Acting in the special screening of her latest film, The Piano Lesson on Netflix, during the 47th annual festival.
The California Film Institute (CAFILM) presents this screening as part of its MVFF Spotlight program, dedicated to celebrating the exceptional work of cinematic artists in their current roles. With the award, Deadwyler joins the ranks of previous honorees including Nikyatu Jusu, Regina King, Denis Villeneuve, Robert Pattinson, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Brie Larson, and Steve McQueen.
In The Piano Lesson, an adaptation of Augustus Wilson’s famous play and directed by Malcolm Washington, Deadwyler plays Bernice Charles, a woman who battles with her brother (John David Washington) over their family’s heirloom piano. He plans to sell the instrument and build his fortune by buying up the land their family farmed, while she is determined to preserve their family’s history. Their uncle (Samuel L. Jackson) tries to mediate, but as the film’s synopsis states, “even he can’t hold back the ghosts of the past.” Produced by Denzel Washington and Todd Black, the film also stars Ray Fisher, Michael Potts, Erykah Badu and Corey Hawkins among the stellar cast.
“Malcolm Washington’s directorial debut is a tribute to the spirit of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, infusing it with a vibrant cinematic feel,” said Zoe Elton, Martinville Film Festival Programming Director. “He has assembled a terrific cast with an incredible sense of language and spirit that made Wilson one of America’s greatest playwrights. Danielle Deadwyler’s work in this film is also superb. As she did in Till, she has once again proven herself to be one of the most distinguished actresses of her generation.”
The film screening and awards ceremony are scheduled for Sunday, October 6, at the Sequoia Cinema in Mill Valley, California, and will be followed by an onstage conversation. “The Piano Lesson” will premiere in select theaters on November 8, then stream on Netflix on November 22.
As mentioned, Deadwyler is best known for her portrayal of Mamie Till-Mobley in the critically acclaimed 2022 film “Till,” for which she won the Breakthrough Performance Award at the Gotham Awards and the Breakthrough Performance Award from the National Board of Review, among other awards and nominations from organizations such as the Critics’ Choice Awards, the Screen Actors Guild, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. She also received an Independent Spirit TV Award nomination for her work on the HBO Max limited series “Station Eleven.” Her other notable credits include “From Scratch,” “The Harder They Fall,” “The Devil to Pay,” “The Haves and the Have Nots,” and “Watchmen.”
Next up is Jaume Collet-Serra’s action thriller “Carry On,” which is set to premiere on Netflix in late 2024, and R.T. Thorne’s post-apocalyptic drama “40 Acres,” which will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Deadwyler also stars in and produces “The Women in the Yard,” another Collet-Serra project, which is set to premiere in March 2025.
