Gwendolyn Payton’s Documentary, The Faith of the Dreamer will be premiering at the Macon Film Festival, Georgia on Sunday, August 24, 2025. The Faith of the Dreamer has also been selected for the Catalina Film Festival, September 24-30, 2025 in Southern California and the Burbank International Film Festival, California on Friday, September 26, 2025.

The documentary, a woman’s story of racial trauma and healing directed by Khary Payton tells a story of an African American matriarch reflecting on growing up in the midst of racial unrest only to be stonewalled by institutional discrimination as she pursued her dream of an art degree.

In 1968, an eager, idealistic African American student at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia is denied the opportunity to receive her Studio Art degree by a racist professor who declares that “niggers aren’t smart enough to earn a degree from this department” and that her artwork is “too controversial”.

Fifty years later, Gwendolyn Payton—along with her family and peers— share through intimate interviews raw memories of racial trauma. Director Khary Payton (The Walking Dead’s King Ezekiel, Gwendolyn’s son) joins this collective reflection on the psychology of racial trauma, the healing power of lament and how an enduring, vibrant spirit can drown out darkness.

“I knew it would be emotional watching my mother relive this trauma. I knew it was important that I be there in the moment. I didn’t know anything else.  I was fortunately surrounded by passionate artists that gave me the freedom to trust the process. That’s all that was necessary,” said Khary Payton.

“I want to thank my mom, Gwendolyn Middleton Payton, for being so vulnerable, for allowing me to be there for her on the rough days and for an unexpected gift. This story has no beginning, middle or end without my grandmother, Johnnie Mae Middleton. She demanded better for her child. She challenged Jericho. She imbued my mother with the resilience to march till the walls finally crumbled. This film is all about and dedicated to mama… and mama.”

Khary Payton thanked “Megan DeFranza for her astounding dedication and empathy and to Paul Van Ness whose talent and love for filmmaking are etched in every frame of this project.”

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