We Speak Filmmakers

Morehouse College Host Exclusive BET Film Screening with Award Winning Director Isaac Yowman at Ray Charles Performing Arts Center For Founders Week

Published

4 years ago

February 1, 2023

Atlanta, GA — The Historic Fifth Ward, located on the northeast edge of downtown Houston, Tx. served as home to the iconic musical venue “Club Matinee” founded in 1936. During the days of segregation, legends like Ray Charles (one of his first gigs), James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones, Louis Armstrong, Sam Cooke, Little Richard and B. B. King & more performed at this KCOH satellite location.

Award winning film director & multi-platinum Grammy nominated music producer Isaac Yowman, has used his visual talents to document the history made during the era of Club Matinee with his newest NAACP Image Award nominated film “Memory Builds The Monument”.

Yowman partnered with local non-profits Fifth Ward CRC and SOURCE Studio to create the project through his film/tv production company IYO Visuals. The documentary premiered as an Official Selection at SXSW and has won nearly a dozen film festivals globally.

Paramount now has acquired the film, and will officially debut “Memory Builds The Monument” on BET throughout Black History Month, and available to stream on BET+ February 1st.

Morehouse College, Yowman will host an Atlanta screening of the BET special and Q&A on Friday, February 17th in the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center. The activation will serve as an Official Founder’s Week event and is FREE to all residents of ATL, students and alumni.

Compelled by the vivid memories of the legendary music venue Club Matinee, “Memory Builds The Monument” film showcases how black artists of the the Baby Boomer generation played a part in re-defining the cultural landscape of the South. The documentary explores the impossible to ignore social challenges of African-Americans living during this era… and how memories, at the verge of being lost, can propel the future.

“Music, Film, Art, Community, Education & Legacy – This project is literally the ethos of who I am as an individual…” Yowman says. “At every level this is what the IYO collective represents. This project is a testament of when you do a project with love and purpose, it shines through. I’m really excited about the art exhibition I’m collaborating on with The MAG in Houston & partnering with such a prestigious HBCU like Morehouse to curate a really dope experience.

The short documentary features Archie Bell (Founding Member of the Billboard charting group Archie Bell & the Drells; Algenita Scott Davis Esq., Housing Program Manager, Center for Civic & Public Policy Improvement; Rev. Harvey Clemons, pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church; and Jesse Lott, who was recently named the Texas state three-dimensional artist of 2022.

ABOUT IYO

IYO Visuals is an award winning video production company based in Houston & Los Angeles. We are a minority owned + operated company with over a decade of video production experience. From scripted films to branded commercials IYO is a full service pre-to-post production house. We have a team of creative individuals that are committed to bringing visuals to life.

We Speak Entertainment

Beth de Araújo Wins Breakthrough Director Award at Montclair for ‘Josephine’

Published

1 week ago

October 23, 2026

Royal Jones

The Montclair Film Festival has named Beth de Araújo its 2026 Breakthrough Director, honoring the filmmaker on Sunday, October 18 at The Bellevue Theatre following a screening of her new film, Josephine.

In presenting the award, the festival praised de Araújo’s “compassionate and deeply felt exploration of trauma, humanity, and the responsibilities that bind us to one another” — the qualities that have marked her rise as one of the most closely watched American directors of her generation.

De Araújo first drew major attention as the writer and director of Soft & Quiet, her blistering debut feature, which premiered at SXSW and earned her a place on year-end lists and awards ballots for breakthrough filmmaking. Josephine is her second feature, and the Montclair honor — part of the festival’s annual Honors program, which this year also salutes Ava DuVernay and Tony Gilroy — confirms her standing as a director whose work travels.

The 14th Montclair Film Festival runs October 16–25 in Montclair, New Jersey.