Jeffrey C. Wray is a Professor of Film Studies and Timnick Chair in the Humanities at Michigan State University and an independent filmmaker. His recent films include Songs for My Right Side, a 2020 half-hour drama, BLAT! Pack Live, a 2016 music documentary, and The Evolution of Bert, a 2014 feature-narrative that premiered at the Chicago International Film Festival and was nominated for the Roger Ebert Award. Wray’s screenplays include The Soul Singer, a drama and 2018 Nicholl Academy Award Screenwriting Fellowship Quarterfinalist, and Eclipse, a political drama set in the turbulent summer of 1964. His 2018 essay “How Ella Mae Wray Seized the Opportunities of 1968” was published in The Atlantic.
Together with his partner, Tama Lynne Hamilton-Wray, PhD they established Jazzy Tam Films, an independent film company based in the Midwest, is dedicated to bringing to life the stories and realities of undocumented lives. We see filmmaking as a collaborative effort and strive to use the resources of our surroundings
“Songs For My Right Side concludes our 5-part Jazz on Film series.