When chatter started about a potential Michael Jackson biographical picture being produced, the gears in the Gary International Black Film Festival’s team’s mind started to turn.
“How could we celebrate our native son?” was the question they all asked as rumors turned into teasers and trailers for the film that began to drop into the world.
“Our goal is to bring Black storytelling and Black cinema to the city of Gary,” said Karen Toering, the festival’s founder. For the past 16 years, each season, the festival has brought more than 40 filmmakers from around the world to tell stories from across the African diaspora.
“It’s rooted in the beginning, and we are the beginning,” said Toni Simpson, the festival’s boots-on-the-ground organizer. “We want this movie to be representative of a force for unity and to show the unified love for our homegrown glory and native son.”
Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Michael is scheduled to debut April 24. In the weeks leading up to the film’s release, the film festival has chosen to honor his legacy with a series of community-centered events that highlight Gary’s connection to Michael Jackson and his family. The celebration will include listening sessions of his musical catalog, “poetry on the move” with Gary Public Transportation Corp. buses being wrapped in poems inspired by Jackson’s song lyrics, and an all-city talent contest.
The first program, kicking off next week, is a community storytelling event dedicated to the memories residents might have of Gary’s famous family. Simpson joked that everyone in the city has a story about the Jacksons, so organizers decided to invite the community to do just that: “Bring forth those memories.”
“I can’t wait for all these stories to come out,” she said.
The event will take place at the Gary Public Library on Fifth Avenue, where residents are invited to share personal memories, photographs, and reflections connected to the family and their rise to fame. Organizers hope it can be an opportunity to document community voices and ensure that local experiences are included in the broader narrative of the global icon.
“It’s these streets that have shaped them,” Simpson said. “That grit and that rhythm, they wonder where he got it from? I know he got it from the streets of Gary.”
Both women, who were contemporaries of Jackson, said they remember his time in Gary vividly. From competing in dance and music competitions together to the Jacksons’ first appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Mike Douglas Show, or Soul Train, or the first moonwalk during Michael’s “Billie Jean” performance, they’ve had the pleasure of watching the evolution of that journey and legacy.
“I remember my heart just swelling up because they’re from Gary and I’m from Gary,” Toering stated with a smile in her voice. “Even beyond their time in Gary, every notch, every elevation [of their career], my chest swelled up, and it continues that way. It never went away.”
Now, as the film’s premiere draws closer, they’re hoping to use events like these to highlight the Gary community’s impact.
“Gary has contributed so much greatness to the world in every realm of disciplines,” Simpson said. “I think what this film will do is remind this community just how great it is, no matter what anyone says.”
Even the youngest generations, like Toering’s 10-year-old grandson, are getting excited about this movie, and they’re hoping to use this community storytelling event to bridge the gap between the youngest and oldest fans.
“The music is universal, and that universality started right here in Gary,” said Toering, who believes that through their music, lyrics, and being, those connections [between generations] have been made. “He continues to inspire today, even after his death.”
While there is no official movie theater in Gary to view the movie, the ladies are still working to bring something here that honors Michael Jackson and his family.
Food, music, memorabilia, and screenings of the trailer and other Jackson clips will happen throughout the event. For community members interested in joining, details for the Jackson Memories Community Storytelling Event are below:
What: Jackson Memories Community Storytelling Event
When: Wednesday, March 25, 3:30 to 7 p.m.
Where: Main Gary Public Library 220 W 5th Ave, Gary
More information: www.garyblackfilmfest.org/community
*Capital B Gary is partnering with the Gary International Black Film Festival on the community storytelling event.