Mohammed Williams Produces 'Love Zurri', Wins Two Telly Awards

Mohammed Williams, executive producer and lead actor of the short film 'Love Zurri', has received two Telly Awards for the project. The awards recognize the film's directing and its social impact. The production examines autism and fatherhood through a family's experience raising their daughter.

The film's narrative centers on Williams' own household. A specific scene depicts Williams searching for his daughter, Zurri, after she appeared to vanish. Williams stated that the moment reflected a real incident from his life. He said the emotional weight of reenacting the event required the production to pause.

The film's director, Okima T. Moore, managed the production during that sequence. Williams said the director had to pull him back and stop filming because he was crying. "That scene is exactly what happened and the tears that were coming up, it was just really me being back in that same space," Williams said.

Williams created the project to address what he described as an absence of male perspectives in autism stories. He noted that fathers are often excluded from these accounts. "You always see it from the mom's perspective … the moms, they have like mom groups, they have all these support groups that I just didn't see for dads," Williams said.

Zurri, now 10 years old, participated in the production. She was present on the set and has seen the finished film. Williams said she shouted directions like 'action' and 'cut' during filming. He stated that she finds the film cool and is extremely creative.