Marquise Mays traces his roots as a filmmaker to his childhood in Milwaukee. He regularly went to the movie theater with his cousins — and often spent the entire day there. When the lights dimmed, Mays found himself transported to new worlds that unfolded on screen.
“There was a lack of things for Black kids in the city to do when I was growing up,” he said. “But that was the one thing that we could do that felt like community. That was our third space, which felt really unique. It’s always connected me to it.”
Today, Mays continues to tap into that connection. An award-winning filmmaker and assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he crafts thoughtful, intimate portraits of Black Americans living in the Midwest. And as an instructor, Mays hopes to impart his deep love of storytelling — and commitment to community — to his students.
“You should have some sort of emotional connection to the story that you’re telling,” he said. “Whether it’s an experience you’ve witnessed or been through yourself, it needs to be personal.”
The road to documentary filmmaking
Mays studied journalism in college. At the time, he envisioned himself becoming an entertainment journalist, drawn to the idea of dissecting pop culture on camera. Yet Mays was also grappling with his feelings towards the way journalism is taught and practiced.
“They were teaching us objectivity. But I didn’t always agree with their version of objectivity,” he said. “It always felt self-serving of the larger communities that you’re writing for as opposed to the community that may be impacted by what you’re writing.”
That’s when Mays found documentary filmmaking, realizing he could blend his reporting skills and ability to connect with people with his passion for storytelling. After earning his bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison in 2018, he went to the University of Southern California to pursue a master’s in cinema and media studies.
“It was a smaller program in this large film school,” Mays said. “So I felt very at ease. I got really connected with folks and filmmakers and was able to hop on some amazing projects.”
In 2020, master’s degree in hand, Mays moved back to his childhood home in Milwaukee to be with his parents amid the COVID-19 pandemic. During quarantine, he created his first documentary in the bedroom he grew up in. The film, “Blindspot,” chronicles the life and impact of Mays’ grandmother Lue Powell, who began to lose her vision when she developed glaucoma as a young adult.
“That led to a fellowship, and that led to my next film,” Mays said. “Then I started lecturing, and a year after that, I was offered to come (to UWM) as a visiting assistant professor.”
Reflecting reality and creating community
While teaching at UWM, Mays has continued to direct stirring short documentaries about Black life in the Midwest. His 2022 film “The Heartland” explores the special relationship Black children have with Milwaukee, while confronting the barriers they face growing up in the city.
In 2023, Mays released “Black Strings,” which follows a group of Black and Latinx musicians in Milwaukee — the Black String Triage Ensemble — who perform at crime scenes in the immediate aftermath of incidents of gun violence. “I think about them a lot,” Mays said. “I definitely think it’s brought attention, nationwide, to what they do.”
Mays’ films have received critical acclaim. “Black Strings,” for example, was awarded Best Documentary Short at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival and was an Official Honoree for the 2024 Webby Awards. His films also have been featured on national platforms including the Criterion Collection, PBS, BET and AspireTV, a national channel serving Black audiences.
Ultimately, Mays is driven by his belief in the importance of building and fostering community — a belief he hopes to pass along to his film students at UWM.
“Here in Milwaukee, you do have to care about people,” Mays said. “How are you embedding yourself as a community member? How are you providing to the community? It’s a reciprocal relationship, so I want them to know that filmmaking is hard, but it’s a relationship that you choose every single time.”
