The feature film is based on Jason Wilson’s transformational martial arts training academy and produced by Fishburne and Helen Sugland’s Cinema Gypsy Productions, Wavelength, and Banca Studio.
New York, NY (May 19, 2022) – Feature documentary, THE CAVE OF ADULLAM, is set to world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival on Monday, June 13. Directed by Academy Award and Emmy nominated filmmaker Laura Checkoway, the film is produced by Laurence Fishburne and Helen Sugland of Cinema Gypsy Productions, Banca Studio’s Roy Bank, and Wavelength’s Founder & CEO Jenifer Westphal and President Joe Plummer. THE CAVE OF ADULLAM follows prolific author Jason Wilson and depicts a rarely seen and raw approach of initiating young Black boys into adulthood at his martial arts dojo in inner-city Detroit, aptly called The Cave of Adullam.
While using the mantra “it’s easier to raise boys than repair broken men”, Jason’s methodology teaches emotional stability instead of discipline, setting vulnerable children on a new path to become whole adults. As the film follows four young recruits, all at various crossroads in their lives, Jason guides them into confronting their inner struggles – overcoming issues with anger, anxiety, and past trauma.
“Searching for healing has been a through-line in my work and our story is filled with comprehensive teachings, direct solutions and most of all, love,” states Director Laura Checkoway. “I couldn’t be more proud to have worked on this project.”
Laurence Fishburne shared,“I’m a Black man in America with two sons, so the work Jason is doing within the four walls of the Cave of Adullam is very personal to me, and it speaks to what my partner Helen Sugland, and our company Cinema Gypsy Productions is all about – – highlighting real accounts of adversity. We are excited and honored to bring Jason and the boys’ story to the screen.”
Jason Wilson, who serves as co-producer on the film, is the author of Battle Cry and Amazon best-seller, Cry Like a Man: Fighting for Freedom from Emotional Incarceration, a memoir that follows the generational abuse, abandonment, and emotional suppression of Wilson’s family and the redemptive power of God through tears, vulnerability, and ultimately healing. His Transformational Training Academy, The Cave of Adullam, has garnered numerous acknowledgments and awards for its work teaching boys how to confront and conquer their negative emotions with composure introspectively.
“We may be located in Detroit, but our narrative is universal,” explained Jason Wilson. “This academy and these boys have my whole heart, and I’m thrilled to be working with a team of filmmakers that are as passionate about sharing emotionally and culturally impactful stories as I am.”
The Cinema Gypsy Productions, Banca Studio, and Wavelength teams will be on-site for the duration of the Tribeca Film Festival and will be taking select meetings. For more information on THE CAVE OF ADULLAM’S Tribeca screenings, click here.
Fishburne is repped by CAA, Landmark Artists Management, and Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka. Laura Checkoway is repped by CAA, and Wavelength is repped by ICM.
photo Credit : BFA & Madison Voelkwl
