Maurice Jamal

Maurice Jamal

When filmmaker Maurice Jamal debuted in the mid- to late 2000s, he rang an unusual note as one of the only contemporary African-American filmmakers to repeatedly specialize in gay themes and characters. A director, producer, writer, and actor to boot, Maurice Jamal held all of the said roles on his first two films. His premier effort, The Ski Trip (2004), told a poignant and often riotous tale about a group of black homosexual men embarking, with their lesbian friend, on an eventful and memorable winter vacation. Though Jamal tackled the lead in that outing, he relegated himself to a supporting role in the follow-up, Dirty Laundry (2006), a bittersweet domestic comedy about a gay urbanite (Rockmond Dunbar) returning to his small Southern hometown. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide