Exclusive: David Oyelowo On Directing & Acting In ‘The Water Man’

Hitting theaters this week is David Oyelowo’s feature directorial debut, ‘The Water Man,’ which made its world premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival’s Special Events lineup. Oprah Winfrey serves as one of the executive producers.

Written by Emma Needell, Oyelowo will appear in the film along with Rosario Dawson, This Is Us star Lonnie Chavis, Amiah Miller (War for the Planet of the Apes ), Alfred Molina (Vice), and Maria Bello (History of Violence).

Shivani Rawat of ShivHans Pictures financed the project as well as produced with Oyelowo’s Yoruba Saxon and Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films. Carla Gardini and Monica Levinson are also producers.

THE WATER MAN is a fantasy-adventure film about a young boy named Gunner (Lonnie Chavis) who sets out on a quest to save his ill mother (Rosario Dawson) by searching for a mythic figure who knows the secret to immortality. Gunner enlists the help of a mysterious local girl (Amiah Miller) who has her own terrifying tale of meeting this figure, known as the Water Man, face-to-face. Together they journey into the remote Wild Horse forest, but the deeper they venture, the stranger and more dangerous the forest becomes. Back home, Gunner’s father, Amos (David Oyelowo), who has grown distant from Gunner over the years, will stop at nothing to find his son -- and in the process discovers who his son really is.

After appeared in numerous films, Oyelowo spoke with BlackFilmandTV.com correspondent Sidnee Michelle about the challenges of directing and acting in his own film.