FOR THE

CROWN

FOR THE

CROWN

FUND

THIS FILM

A feature film rooted in HBCU pageantry, legacy, and the cost of excellence.

Fund the crown. Protect the culture.

Fund the crown. Protect the culture.

Fund the crown. Protect the culture.

For the Crown is an independently made film about ambition, belonging, and the pressure to represent something bigger than yourself. Your support keeps this story in the hands of the community that lived it.

For the Crown is an independently made film about ambition, belonging, and the pressure to represent something bigger than yourself. Your support keeps this story in the hands of the community that lived it.

For the Crown is an independently made film about ambition, belonging, and the pressure to represent something bigger than yourself. Your support keeps this story in the hands of the community that lived it.

OUR CAMPAIGN

$3M

Campaign goal for a fully independent feature.

HBCU

Pageantry, campus life, movement, and legacy on screen.

For us

A story funded by the people who know why it matters.

Our Story

IF YOU'VE EVER STEPPED ONTO AN HBCU CAMPUS, YOU KNOW THE FEELING

The yard alive with Greek strolls, drumline and majorettes shaking the bleachers. Homecoming and tailgate taking over streets. Fashion, scholarship, a quality education at the forefront , and last but certainly not least, people who chose this place, and chose each other.

At the center of it all is pageantry. The moment when students — from different chapters, organizations, countries, and classes — step forward to represent something bigger than themselves. The crown - a symbol of culture, excellence, and belonging.

The film follows Simone, a determined and ambitious contestant competing for the coveted title of Ms. Sterling College. As she navigates rehearsals, school, interviews, and mounting pressure, Simone becomes increasingly consumed by the expectations placed upon her—both by the pageant system and herself.  What begins as a pursuit of excellence slowly unravels into a question of identity, worth, and how far one is willing to go in the pursuit of perfection. As the night of the pageant unfolds, Simone is forced to confront the cost of perfection and whether winning the crown is truly worth losing herself.

The yard alive with Greek strolls, drumline and majorettes shaking the bleachers. Homecoming and tailgate taking over streets. Fashion, scholarship, a quality education at the forefront , and last but certainly not least, people who chose this place, and chose each other.

At the center of it all is pageantry. The moment when students — from different chapters, organizations, countries, and classes — step forward to represent something bigger than themselves. The crown - a symbol of culture, excellence, and belonging.

The film follows Simone, a determined and ambitious contestant competing for the coveted title of Ms. Sterling College. As she navigates rehearsals, school, interviews, and mounting pressure, Simone becomes increasingly consumed by the expectations placed upon her—both by the pageant system and herself.  What begins as a pursuit of excellence slowly unravels into a question of identity, worth, and how far one is willing to go in the pursuit of perfection. As the night of the pageant unfolds, Simone is forced to confront the cost of perfection and whether winning the crown is truly worth losing herself.

Meet the Filmmaker

Meet the filmmaker

My name is Mariama Diallo and trecently, I graduated from Spelman College as one of the historic Spelman Seven — the first seven valedictorians in the school’s history each attaining a 4.0. I double-majored in Documentary Film and Psychology, becoming the first-ever documentary filmmaking valedictorian and the only psychology major to graduate with that distinction that year.

But before any of that, I was a student on campus, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, and a young woman who watched pageants, worked on pageants, and understood from the inside what it means to compete for a crown.

For the Crown is a film I’ve been living for the past four years: the culture, the community, the diaspora, the pressure to represent and excel. I know that world because it shaped me. And because I know it so deeply, I can tell it with the honesty, care, and respect it deserves.

This is my first feature film. I’m making it independently because I refuse to hand this story to anyone who doesn’t understand what it means. I have the training, the lived experience, and the community behind me. What I need are the resources.


What I need is you!

What I need is you.

Every contribution helps keep the production independent, specific, and accountable to the culture it represents.

Why this film, why now, and why us?

The moment. The movement. The mission.

From School Daze to Drumline to A Different World — HBCU culture has always had its storytellers. For the Crown is the next chapter.

And right now, that chapter couldn’t be more necessary. HBCU culture has shaped some of the most brilliant, creative, and powerful people in the world, but DEI is being dismantled, funding across the board is under threat, and our history is being pulled from classrooms. Putting this story on screen is a statement — we were here, we built something, and we’re not going anywhere.

This film is being made independently, because a story this personal and specific deserves to remain in the hands of people who know it and can do the story justice

And that’s where you come in. A community — the people who lived this, who love this, and who know exactly what it means. When you back this film, you’re not just funding a project. You’re claiming ownership of a story that belongs to us, and making sure it gets told the right way.

For us. For the culture. For the Crown.




From School Daze to Drumline to A Different World — HBCU culture has always had its storytellers. For the Crown is the next chapter.

And right now, that chapter couldn’t be more necessary. HBCU culture has shaped some of the most brilliant, creative, and powerful people in the world, but DEI is being dismantled, funding across the board is under threat, and our history is being pulled from classrooms. Putting this story on screen is a statement — we were here, we built something, and we’re not going anywhere.

This film is being made independently, because a story this personal and specific deserves to remain in the hands of people who know it and can do the story justice

And that’s where you come in. A community — the people who lived this, who love this, and who know exactly what it means. When you back this film, you’re not just funding a project. You’re claiming ownership of a story that belongs to us, and making sure it gets told the right way.

For us. For the culture. For the Crown.




When you back this film, you’re not just funding a project. You’re claiming ownership of a story that belongs to us.

When you back this film, you’re not just funding a project. You’re claiming ownership of a story that belongs to us.

When you back this film, you’re not just funding a project. You’re claiming ownership of a story that belongs to us.

Why $3 million?

Why the goal matters

Great films are not made by accident.

Films centered around music, movement, performance, large ensemble casts, and culturally immersive worlds require time, preparation, and resources in order to be executed at a high level. Films like School Daze and Drumline were able to leave a lasting cultural impact because they were given the scale necessary to fully bring their worlds to life — from performance sequences and costumes to production design, music, choreography, and large-scale campus environments.

For the Crown is no different.

This campaign goal of 3 million dollars represents the minimum needed to create the film at the level this story deserves — while paying cast and crew fairly, preserving creative independence, and authentically capturing the beauty, pressure, ambition, and spectacle of HBCU pageantry and campus culture. Every dollar raised directly supports the people, black artistry, infrastructure, and cinematic scale required to tell this story as authentically as possible.

Great films are not made by accident.

Films centered around music, movement, performance, large ensemble casts, and culturally immersive worlds require time, preparation, and resources in order to be executed at a high level. Films like School Daze and Drumline were able to leave a lasting cultural impact because they were given the scale necessary to fully bring their worlds to life — from performance sequences and costumes to production design, music, choreography, and large-scale campus environments.

For the Crown is no different.

This campaign goal of 3 million dollars represents the minimum needed to create the film at the level this story deserves — while paying cast and crew fairly, preserving creative independence, and authentically capturing the beauty, pressure, ambition, and spectacle of HBCU pageantry and campus culture. Every dollar raised directly supports the people, black artistry, infrastructure, and cinematic scale required to tell this story as authentically as possible.

People

Paying cast, crew, performers, and department heads fairly.

Scale

Building the campus world with locations, movement, wardrobe, and design.

Control

Keeping the story specific, independent, and accountable to the culture.

Legacy

Creating a cinematic record of HBCU pageantry now.

For the US. For the CULTURE. For CROWN.

Help bring this world to screen without watering it down.

Help bring this world to screen without watering it down.

Help bring this world to screen without watering it down.

Your donation helps fund the people, places, music, movement, and production scale required to tell an HBCU pageantry story with the care it deserves.

Your donation helps fund the people, places, music, movement, and production scale required to tell an HBCU pageantry story with the care it deserves.

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