A Film by Phillip Youmans
Set among the cane fields of rural Louisiana, BURNING CANE follows a deeply religious, God fearing mother struggling to reconcile her tightly-held convictions of faith with the love she has for her troubled, self-destructive son while also witnessing her dejected pastor’s decline. The intimate drama captures the complexity and complacency of family life and religion in rural Louisiana. With his spare, almost documentary filmmaking style, Phillip Youmans, who wrote, directed, photographed and co-edited BURNING CANE as his debut feature film, captures the daily lives of the characters and the natural beauty of the town of Laurel Valley and manages to humanize the flawed characters. BURNING CANE is the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival Founders Award Winner for Best Narrative Feature and 2019 Venice Film Festival Official Selection.
Directed by Phillip Youmans • Screenplay by Phillip Youmans • Produced by Ojo Akinlana, Jakob Johnson, Karen Kaia Livers, Mose Mayer, Wendell Pierce, Isaac Webb, Cassandra Youmans
Deeply moving and a little bit tragic
Burning Cane
A Film by Phillip Youmans
Set among the cane fields of rural Louisiana, BURNING CANE follows a deeply religious, God fearing mother struggling to reconcile her tightly-held convictions of faith with the love she has for her troubled, self-destructive son while also witnessing her dejected pastor’s decline. The intimate drama captures the complexity and complacency of family life and religion in rural Louisiana. With his spare, almost documentary filmmaking style, Phillip Youmans, who wrote, directed, photographed and co-edited BURNING CANE as his debut feature film, captures the daily lives of the characters and the natural beauty of the town of Laurel Valley and manages to humanize the flawed characters. BURNING CANE is the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival Founders Award Winner for Best Narrative Feature and 2019 Venice Film Festival Official Selection.
Directed by Phillip Youmans • Screenplay by Phillip Youmans • Produced by Ojo Akinlana, Jakob Johnson, Karen Kaia Livers, Mose Mayer, Wendell Pierce, Isaac Webb, Cassandra Youmans
Deeply moving and a little bit tragic
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In the News
How Burning Cane’s 19-year-old director made his haunting tale of religion in the South
Phillip Youmans shot the movie the summer before his senior year of high school — and made one of the year’s breakout indies.
For ‘Burning Cane’ Director Phillip Youmans, His New Orleans Roots Are His Inspiration
At the Tribeca Film Festival in New York earlier this year, Phillip Youmans made history. The 19-year-old director took home the top prize at the festival, the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, for his debut Burning Cane—the first Black director in Tribeca history to do so.
Review: New Orleans-set ‘Burning Cane’ marks the bold debut of 19-year-old director
‘Burning Cane’ Review: Poverty and Despair in Rural Louisiana
In the News
How Burning Cane’s 19-year-old director made his haunting tale of religion in the South
Phillip Youmans shot the movie the summer before his senior year of high school — and made one of the year’s breakout indies.
For ‘Burning Cane’ Director Phillip Youmans, His New Orleans Roots Are His Inspiration
At the Tribeca Film Festival in New York earlier this year, Phillip Youmans made history. The 19-year-old director took home the top prize at the festival, the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, for his debut Burning Cane—the first Black director in Tribeca history to do so.
Review: New Orleans-set ‘Burning Cane’ marks the bold debut of 19-year-old director