University of Kansas professor Kevin Willmott has won an Oscar for his writing work on “BlacKkKlansman,” the film directed by Spike Lee.
Willmott worked with Lee, Charlie Wachtel and David Rabinowitz on the film, which took home the best adapted screenplay award.
“BlacKkKlansman” beat out “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” “If Beale Street Could Talk” and “A Star Is Born” for the title.
The film was nominated in five other categories, including best picture, best supporting actor, best director, best original music score, and best film editing.
“BlacKkKlansman” adapts the memoir of a Colorado police detective who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s.
Willmott teaches film and media studies at KU. He grew up in Junction City, Kansas. He previously worked with Lee on writing the 2015 movie “Chi-Raq.”
He is also the writer/director of several independent films, including “CSA: The Confederate States of America,” “Jayhawkers,” “Bunker Hill,” and “The Only Good Indian.”
