{"id":8811,"date":"2021-03-03T23:21:26","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T23:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/?p=8811"},"modified":"2026-02-03T04:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:06:23","slug":"award-winning-director-and-writer-jamal-hodge-on-his-new-film-mourning-meal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/?p=8811","title":{"rendered":"Award-winning director and writer Jamal Hodge on his new film \u201cMourning Meal\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jamal Hodge is a multi-award-winning\nfilmmaker and writer. Since May of 2016, Jamal Hodge’s films have been an\nofficial selection in over 100 Film Festivals and have won 50+awards including\nThe Vanguard Award (Best of The Fest) at the Hip Hop Film Festival (2020), Best\nDirector at the Chelsea Film Festival (2020) Best Director at Genre Blast\n(2020), Best Director at The Hip Hop Film Festival (2019), Best Short Film at\nThe People\u2019s Film Festival (2019), And the Audience Choice Award at the\nBlackstar Film Festival (2016). In 2018 he directed the first season of\nInvestigation Discovery Channel’s ‘Primal Instinct’ and came on as a Producer\non the Animated feature film ‘Pierre The Pigeon Hawk’ starring Will.I.Am and\nWhoopi Goldberg. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a writer, his screenplay ‘Mourning Meal’\nwon 5 awards (including best short screenplay at NYC Horror Film Festival 2018)\nand was featured as a finalist in 7 writing competitions. Jamal’s poetry is\nfeatured in the historical all-black issue of Star*line Magazine and has been\nfeatured several times in SPACE AND TIME MAGAZINE, PENUMBRIC Speculative\nFiction Magazine, and in the upcoming anthology CHIRAL MAD 5 alongside such\ngreats as Linda Addison, Sharee Renee Thomas, & Jack Ketchum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Motivated by his accomplishments, Hodge has blossomed to take his talents to the next level. Jamal’s tone of work, or what he calls, “Inspirational Darkness”, can be described as a melding of genres. The Psychological Horror, Thriller, and Inspirational genres are Jamal’s usual forte of film making. His mission is to add value to people\u2019s lives through his unique brand of cinema. He\u2019s excited to continue to grow outstanding partnerships to create memorable and impactful cinematic experiences for audiences across the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photo Credit Anthony Artis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What was the most\nsignificant decision in shooting your current film \u201cMourning Meal\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hodge:<\/strong> As always, the most\ncritical decision is who you decide to go on the journey with.  The cast\nand crew are the heart and spirit of the movie. Finding the right people is\ncritical, and l was blessed to have Linda Addison\u2019s poem for the inspiration of\nour film, also the brilliance of Ruya Koman as Cheryl, the 3 amazing child\nactors Nicholas Valentino, Max Masefield, and Samuel Acierno. Also having one\nof the best production companies in the game with Nonstop Show Group, and of\ncourse the cinematography of the great Koshi Kiyokawa. Really, the whole cast\nand crew were the most significant choice I made when seeking to get this done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What part of the\nscript\/story best stood out for you and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hodge:<\/strong> Since I\u2019m the writer\nit\u2019s hard for me to say, but the opening scene with the car accident… that\nterrible seed of anguished pain, that scene set the tone for the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without giving it away,\ntell us a little bit more about the characters and the lead actors.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hodge:<\/strong> Well, I\u2019ll simply\nshare the synopsis LOL:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the tragic loss of her son, Cheryl, a grieving mother, adopts a new philosophy, one that changes her outlook on life and grief. One where suffering has become a dear friend… that must be shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ruya Koman in Mourning Meal (screenshot)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How do you bring this\nstory to life while staying true to your vision as director?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hodge:<\/strong> By pre-planning.\nPre-production and communication with the key members of your cast and crew are\nKey. Also being committed to creating an environment on set where everyone can\nbe their best is just as important as anything else, o feel a lot of times\npeople underestimate how important the work environment is to the quality of\nthe artist’s performances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What excites you about\nthis project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hodge:<\/strong> People exploding into\nan uproar over some of its more shocking parts while watching them being sucked\ninto an emotional black hole of dread… and loving it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What other works are\nyou most proud of?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hodge:<\/strong> Very proud of my work on \u201cThe Jump\u201d and \u201cA Happy Divorce\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sita Sarkar as Jenny in A Happy Divorce (screenshot)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What films have been\nthe most inspiring or influential to you and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hodge:<\/strong> Pan\u2019s Labyrinth- it\nuses darkness to show light and is just a beautiful collage of pacing, writing,\nacting and cinematography. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seven- \u201cWhat\u2019s in the Box!\u201d Fincher is\nthe bar I strive to reach in suspense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psycho- the power of suspense and score.\nThe shower scene is a major inspiration for the bedroom scene in Mourning Meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Menace to society- the grit, the honesty.\nWas the realest thing I\u2019d ever seen on the screen at the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Training Day- how the collaboration of\ngreat actors and a director can elevate the urban film to an art form. The\npower in the nuance of well-crafted dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texas Chainsaw Massacre- horror can be\nvisual poetry… on a minor budget! Pure genius!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you do to\nenhance the collaborative process when working with actors, screenwriters,\nproducers and others creative members?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hodge:<\/strong> I can\u2019t give out my\nkey secrets but let\u2019s just say I ferment relationships year round before a\nproject is even on the table, and I encourage everyone to hold a sense of\nownership of their role in the film. People will work harder when you give them\na voice and an opportunity for personal pride in their own creative choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What experiences have\nyou learned from in life? How did that change you and your creative process and\nthe way you go about making films?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hodge:<\/strong> Not to sound morbid\nbut there was a point when I was homeless as a child in New York\nCity.  For survival\u2019s sake, I had to learn how to study the body\nlanguage of adults, to read the character of others in their movements and\ninflections. Then, as a teenager, I worked at DCTV as a youth documentarian\nwhere I observed people for years. This all taught me the power of truly seeing\nothers, that people have multiple meanings in all they do and say, and to\ncapture that in my actor’s performances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I love my characters to be walking\nhypocrisies, light caught by shadows. I am obsessed with making the audience\nconfront the duality of their own nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can bring catharsis and even a newfound\ncompassion in them when they walk out the theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you see your\nrole as a filmmaker? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hodge:<\/strong> My role is, to tell\nthe truth. To use darkness to show light. I feel that I\u2019m more of a storyteller\nthan a filmmaker, film is just the shell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which film festivals\nthat you have been part of would you recommend to other filmmakers looking to\nscreen his\/her films?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hodge:<\/strong> Cannes of course…\nthere\u2019s simply nothing like it. It must be experienced to be believed.\nDomestically, I have to shout out some great NYC festivals starting with The\nHip Hip Film Festival, founder CR Capers is truly about getting emerging\nfilmmakers that check and exposure opportunities. Then we have The New York\nCity Horror Film Festival- one of the best genre film festivals in the country\nwith just a cool ass staff. There of course is the Tribeca Film Festival but I\nprefer the wonderful Chelsea Film Festival and their amazing catalog of quality\nfilms, filmmakers, and panels. Shriekfest on the west coast is pure gold as\nwell and is managed by some of the realest people you\u2019ll ever meet in L.A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do filmmakers have any\nresponsibility to culture? What message do you want to convey with your\nfilms?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hodge:<\/strong> Yes- if they choose\nto. I can only speak for myself. I don\u2019t feel that all the stories I tell have\nto be rooted in black culture, but I do feel compelled as a black man to tell\nstories we people of color in central roles and with latent themes the resonate\nwith my culture and unique perspective of the American experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main message I want to convey in my films is the transmutation of pain into beauty, the extraordinary in the ordinary, and the fact that all people are just as alive as you are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Screenshot of The Jump<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What other hobbies do\nyou have?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hodge:<\/strong> I enjoy long walks on\nthe beach\u2026 nah for real though, I live by one. For me, I love curiosity\nand learning I try to learn something new every day. Also, fitness is a big\nhobby for me. But most of all I enjoy traveling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you want to be\nremembered for in life? What valuable lessons have you learned that helped you\nbecome the person you are today?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hodge:<\/strong> I want to be\nremembered for the quality of my stewardship of what God and people entrusted\nme with. I want people to say he added value to my perspective, he helped me\ntransmute pain to beauty. He left the world a little more compassionate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main lesson I learned is the only\nreal choice we have in life is what\/who we choose to serve, so choose\nwell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I learned all beings are facing some form\nof pain. We are all finite, temporary, we all suffer. To me, that means we are\nall worthy of some degree of compassion. That is the major theme in all my\nfilms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I learned happiness comes from when\nprogress meets service. Still, the pursuit of happiness makes you unhappy, and\nwe\u2019re here in fact to pursue purpose and meaning, to accept the value in all\nemotions as a part of the human experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also learned that most personal\nproblems come from a lack of discipline and organization. A disciplined man can\ndo more with two pages of a book than an undisciplined man can do with r was\nsing the whole damn thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are your top five\nprinciples of success?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal Hodge:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.     Have\na message YOU believe in unapologetically <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.     Discipline\nis the root of all success<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.     We\nall know our time and money are precious currency, but often we forget that out\nattention is as well. It must be protected. Where you place your attention is\nwhat you become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.     Be\na man or woman of value. Always give more than asked for, and you will gain\nmore than you expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.     Build an inner circle. What one can accomplish, 2 can accomplish ten-fold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Article Photo Credit: Anthony Artis<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jamal Hodge is a multi-award-winning filmmaker and writer. Since May of 2016, Jamal Hodge’s films have been an official selection in over 100 Film Festivals and have won 50+awards including The Vanguard Award (Best of The Fest) at the Hip Hop Film Festival (2020), Best Director at the Chelsea Film Festival (2020) Best Director at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8815,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8811"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19226,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8811\/revisions\/19226"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}