# Malcolm Washington
**Malcolm Washington** (born 1991) is an American filmmaker whose feature directorial debut, *[The Piano Lesson](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-piano-lesson-2024-film)* (2024), an adaptation of [August Wilson](https://www.edgepedia.org/august-wilson)'s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, premiered at the [Telluride Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/telluride-film-festival) and was released by Netflix.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7172168/) • [2](https://aafca.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/AAFCAAwards-16-Program-Web.pdf) He is the son of actors Denzel and Pauletta Washington.[3](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/12/02/how-malcolm-washington-pitched-denzel-washington-on-the-piano-lesson)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1991[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7172168/) |
| Family | Son of Denzel and Pauletta Washington; twin brother of Olivia Washington, sibling of John David and Katia Washington[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7172168/) • [4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2024/11/08/piano-lesson-denzel-deadwyler-review/) |
| Education | Film studies degree, University of Pennsylvania; MFA in directing, AFI Conservatory (Class of 2016)[2](https://aafca.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/AAFCAAwards-16-Program-Web.pdf) • [5](https://www.afi.com/news/spotlight-on-the-piano-lesson-director-and-afi-alum-malcolm-washington/) |
| Early short film | *Benny Got Shot* (2017), co-written and directed at AFI; Filmmaker to Watch Award at the Atlanta Film Festival[5](https://www.afi.com/news/spotlight-on-the-piano-lesson-director-and-afi-alum-malcolm-washington/) |
| Feature debut | *The Piano Lesson* (2024), co-written with Virgil Williams; premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival[6](https://www.dga.org/Events/2025/January2025/PianoLesson_QnA_1124) • [2](https://aafca.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/AAFCAAwards-16-Program-Web.pdf) |
| Reception | Metascore 69 based on 40 critic reviews; Breakthrough Director Award at the Montclair and Hamptons Film Festivals[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-piano-lesson/) • [5](https://www.afi.com/news/spotlight-on-the-piano-lesson-director-and-afi-alum-malcolm-washington/) |
| Release | Select theaters from November 8, 2024, then Netflix[5](https://www.afi.com/news/spotlight-on-the-piano-lesson-director-and-afi-alum-malcolm-washington/) |
## Family and education
Washington is one of four children of [Denzel Washington](https://www.edgepedia.org/denzel-washington) and Pauletta Washington: his older brother is the actor [John David Washington](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-david-washington), his sister Katia works as a producer, and his twin sister is the actress Olivia Washington.[3](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/12/02/how-malcolm-washington-pitched-denzel-washington-on-the-piano-lesson) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7172168/) • [4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2024/11/08/piano-lesson-denzel-deadwyler-review/) In *The Piano Lesson*, the family concentrated several roles: Denzel produced, John David starred as Boy Willie, Katia was an executive producer, Olivia took a small role, and Pauletta played Mama Ola.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2024/11/08/piano-lesson-denzel-deadwyler-review/) • [8](https://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/uploads/images/2024/09/14/27519.pdf)
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in film studies, he worked in the camera department, moving from job to job with the same crew.[2](https://aafca.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/AAFCAAwards-16-Program-Web.pdf) • [5](https://www.afi.com/news/spotlight-on-the-piano-lesson-director-and-afi-alum-malcolm-washington/) Colleagues told him that if he wanted to direct he should go to school or make his own projects; he chose the [AFI Conservatory](https://www.edgepedia.org/afi-conservatory), citing [Terrence Malick](https://www.edgepedia.org/terrence-malick) and [David Lynch](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-lynch) as filmmakers whose kind of films he wanted to make.[5](https://www.afi.com/news/spotlight-on-the-piano-lesson-director-and-afi-alum-malcolm-washington/)
## Early work
While at the AFI Conservatory he co-wrote and directed the short film *Benny Got Shot* (2017), which earned him a Filmmaker to Watch Award at the Atlanta Film Festival.[5](https://www.afi.com/news/spotlight-on-the-piano-lesson-director-and-afi-alum-malcolm-washington/) His credits also include crew and production work on films such as *Chef* (2014) and the short *North Hollywood* (2021) as producer.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7172168/)
## The Piano Lesson
**Feature debut.** *The Piano Lesson* adapts August Wilson's 1987 play, the fifth entry in his ten-play Pittsburgh Cycle, set in 1936 [Pittsburgh](https://www.edgepedia.org/pittsburgh). The drama centers on the Charles family and an heirloom piano carved with designs by an enslaved ancestor: the brother Boy Willie wants to sell it to buy the [Mississippi](https://www.edgepedia.org/mississippi) land their ancestors worked as slaves, while his sister Berniece refuses to give it up.[6](https://www.dga.org/Events/2025/January2025/PianoLesson_QnA_1124) • [9](https://apnews.com/article/65ea94ea0d1d82132893cccf8d2c8153) • [10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/nov/07/the-piano-lesson-review-washington-family-get-stuck-into-august-wilsons-powerful-play)
Washington co-wrote the screenplay with Virgil Williams, the screenwriter of *Mudbound*. Their adaptation goes beyond Wilson's text, opening with a 1911 set piece in which the piano is stolen from a white family's home, and showing the origins of the instrument's carvings rather than narrating them.[6](https://www.dga.org/Events/2025/January2025/PianoLesson_QnA_1124) • [11](https://apnews.com/article/27b6000a3e34ad96c360fde012a4ab53)
**Production and reception.** Before taking the job, Washington had to pitch his father, who as producer is on a mission to adapt all ten of Wilson's plays for the screen; Denzel Washington said that a week or so into shooting he concluded there was nothing left for him to do on set.[3](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/12/02/how-malcolm-washington-pitched-denzel-washington-on-the-piano-lesson) • [9](https://apnews.com/article/65ea94ea0d1d82132893cccf8d2c8153) After its Telluride premiere, the film earned Washington the Breakthrough Director Award at both the Montclair and Hamptons Film Festivals.[5](https://www.afi.com/news/spotlight-on-the-piano-lesson-director-and-afi-alum-malcolm-washington/) It holds a Metascore of 69 based on 40 critic reviews.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-piano-lesson/)
Critics noted how his approach differed from his father's work on *Fences*: the pacing is faster and the music more dramatic and less deferential to the story's era, with a [Frank Ocean](https://www.edgepedia.org/frank-ocean) song, "Wither," over the final credits.[12](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/12/the-piano-lesson-netflix-august-wilson-review/680933/) In an interview with GQ, Washington said his father supported the film's guiding idea of showing young people that August Wilson is part of their lineage too.[12](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/12/the-piano-lesson-netflix-august-wilson-review/680933/)
## References
1. [Malcolm Washington, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7172168/)
2. [AAFCA Awards program honoring Malcolm Washington](https://aafca.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/AAFCAAwards-16-Program-Web.pdf)
3. [How Malcolm Washington Pitched Denzel Washington on “The Piano Lesson”, The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/12/02/how-malcolm-washington-pitched-denzel-washington-on-the-piano-lesson)
4. ['The Piano Lesson' adapts a great American play into an off-key movie, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2024/11/08/piano-lesson-denzel-deadwyler-review/)
5. [Spotlight on THE PIANO LESSON Director and AFI Alum Malcolm Washington, American Film Institute](https://www.afi.com/news/spotlight-on-the-piano-lesson-director-and-afi-alum-malcolm-washington/)
6. [Director Malcolm Washington discusses The Piano Lesson, Directors Guild of America](https://www.dga.org/Events/2025/January2025/PianoLesson_QnA_1124)
7. [The Piano Lesson Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-piano-lesson/)
8. [TORONTO, Sept 14 (AP): August Wilson's “The Piano Lesson”, Arab Times](https://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/uploads/images/2024/09/14/27519.pdf)
9. [Wrestling with the ghosts of 'The Piano Lesson'](https://apnews.com/article/65ea94ea0d1d82132893cccf8d2c8153)
10. [The Piano Lesson review – Washington family get stuck into August Wilson's powerful play, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/nov/07/the-piano-lesson-review-washington-family-get-stuck-into-august-wilsons-powerful-play)
11. [Movie Review: The Washington family tells a ghost story in August Wilson's “The Piano Lesson”, AP](https://apnews.com/article/27b6000a3e34ad96c360fde012a4ab53)
12. [August Wilson's Histories of Black American Life, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/12/the-piano-lesson-netflix-august-wilson-review/680933/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Film and television directors › Directors of the United States and Canada › Contemporary film directors › Directors debuting in the 2010s and later*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license