DVD cover shows former Washington resident and film producer Roy Kirkland (top center) and the cross that was burned in his front yard. A new motion picture documentary, produced by a former resident of Washington, has received an award at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival and will be shown at a special screening here next week at the Retro Cinema.

"A Cross Burning in Willacoochee" is the story of events leading up to and following the night, in 1993, when someone burned a cross in Roy Kirkland's front yard. A group of men yelled anti-gay slurs in front of the house where Kirkland lived in Willacoochee, Georgia, with filmmaker Doug Sebastian. The couple's mailbox was destroyed twice and death threats were left on their answering machine. In the 16 years since, no charges or arrests have been made.

Both Kirkland and Sebastian, who directed the film, will be in Washington at the Retro Cinema for the special screening on Saturday, November 21, at 7:30 p.m. They will be available for questions and answers following the presentation and will visit with viewers for drinks and hors d'oeuvres before the showing.

The film was also an official selection at the 2009 Atlanta Out On Film Festival and is currently available on DVD. To see trailers and for more information, go to www.acrossburning. com.

Kirkland lived in Washington for a time a few years ago when he owned the classic antebellum home known as the Tupper-Barnett House in downtown Washington. There, he suffered similar harrassment, though to a lesser degree, and at the end of the film, credits then County Commissioner Donna Hardy with putting an end to it through personal intervention.