Joanna Hay Productions

06/23/2026

Come see our documentary at the Speed Art Museum Cinema this Sunday!

🎬 Community Preview: Stories from the Balcony — Free Screening + Discussion, June 28
Speed Cinema is proud to present a free community preview of STORIES FROM THE BALCONY, a documentary twenty years in the making from director Joanna Hay.

During the era of Jim Crow segregation, Frankfort, Kentucky's Black community was relegated to the upper balcony of the Grand Theatre. This film is their story — one of resilience, joy, and deep belonging, told through the voices of the people who lived it. Featuring George C. Wolfe, Sheila Mason Burton, Bobby Jones, and many others, with narration by Mary Jackson and a youthful perspective brought by Katima Smith-Willis.

The screening is followed by a CINEMA + conversation with director and producer Joanna Hay and three of the documentary's subjects: Bobby Jones, Sheila Mason-Burton, and Katima Smith-Willis.
📅 Sunday, June 28 | 3 pm

Free — first come, first served
Speed Cinema | Recommended 13+ | 46 min

06/19/2026

“Stories from the Balcony” is a story of community, love and belonging despite the discrimination and degradation faced by Frankfort, Kentucky’s Black community, who were relegated to the Grand Theatre balcony until the Grand closed down in 1963.

Community members like Mike Fields shared their experiences growing up attending the Grand Theatre: “People of color would go in on the right side, white people would go in on the left side…. I didn’t fully understand segregation at the time - the fact that white people were sitting downstairs, and we were sitting upstairs. It was just the way it was. So, we have to continue to try to move forward.”

06/19/2026

Tonight, June 18 at 5:30 PM, join “Stories from the Balcony” Producer & Director Joanna Hay and Interviewer & Collaborator Katima Smith-Willis for a Juneteenth Community Conversation hosted by Frankfort, KY City Government and Focus On Race Relations - FORR Frankfort at Liberty Hall Historic Site. FORR President Kristie Powe will moderate, and a panel of community leaders will discuss the history and significance of Juneteenth in Frankfort. Space is limited; please register in advance at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5io7wUYFkCMSPAH_pgn3CGgRZf0IA_UvAJX_tYDBUYa_Bfw/viewform.

06/16/2026

Arts Education Consultant Judy Sizemore and teacher Haley McCoy piloted the “Stories from the Balcony” community-based documentation curriculum with Eastern Kentucky University Model Laboratory School's 10th grade class. Students learned the importance of culture, storytelling, and oral histories, and screened “Stories from the Balcony.” Then, they practiced interviewing and taking field notes. Finally, students filmed, recorded, and edited interviews, wrote copy, and created graphics to produce a nearly 10-minute film about the history of their school for their final project. Aidan M. shares, ““I love it because we worked so hard on it.”

You can help get “Stories from the Balcony” into more schools and communities by donating at https://bgcf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=12649. Thank you!

Photos courtesy of Haley McCoy, EKU Model Teacher

Grand Theatre Frankfort, KY Kentucky Arts Council Heritage Council - SHPO

06/10/2026

Over the weekend, Stories from the Balcony was honored with the Kentucky History Award presented by the Kentucky Historical Society! This annual award recognizes outstanding achievements by projects and people who promote the value of Kentucky history through awareness, preservation, and appreciation of state and local history. Joanna Hay (Producer & Director), Katima Smith-Willis (Interviewer & Collaborator) and Mike Fields (Interviewee & Grand Theatre board member) accepted the award from the Kentucky Historical Society’s Governing Board President Sheila Mason, who also appears in the documentary.

Join us in congratulating everyone who has made this film and its impact possible, and our fellow awardees.

06/10/2026

Join our partners at the Speed Art Museum Speed Cinema for a free community screening of Stories from the Balcony on Sunday, June 28 at 3pm, followed by a discussion with producer and director Joanna Hay and three of the documentary’s storytellers Bobby Jones, Sheila Mason-Burton, and Katima Smith-Willis. Learn more at https://www.speedmuseum.org/cinema/stories-from-the-balcony/.

Twenty years in the making, Stories from the Balcony is a documentary film about growing up going to the movies at the Grand Theatre in Frankfort, Kentucky during the era of Jim Crow segregation. It is the story of community, love, and belonging, despite the discrimination and degradation faced by the town’s Black community, who were relegated to the balcony.

06/05/2026

Join us in uplifting untold stories and 🎉celebrating Producer & Director Joanna Hay's birthday🎉by making a tax-deductible donation at https://bgcf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=12649.

Stories from the Balcony is not only an award winning documentary film—it is also a school-based educational curriculum that engages youth in documentation activities to tell the history of their communities through their own voices and the voices of their elders.

Thank you!

📸 Ezra Corum | Grand Theatre Frankfort, KY January 9, 2026 screening

06/03/2026

Stories from the Balcony Producer & Director Joanna Hay is now a In Progress Impact Producing Fellow with grant support from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Docs in Progress supports documentary filmmakers craft an intentional plan to spark positive social change. Joanna shares, “We come to understand the human experience and feel compassion for others through the art of storytelling. Stories from the Balcony has the potential to impact communities beyond Frankfort and beyond Kentucky.”

Congratulations to all the Impact Fellows!

06/02/2026

It’s so exciting to see Stories from the Balcony make its way out into the world!

Stories from the Balcony won Best Documentary from the London Independent Film Awards! Join us in celebrating bold, original voices in independent film and congratulate our fellow awardees: https://lifawards.com/april-2026/.