BATON ROUGE - A Southern University alumnus is headed to one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, thanks to his acclaimed new short film.

"I feel like there's always a story that's missed," Langston Williams, the writer and director of "Stay Woke" said.

Williams earned his bachelor's degree from Southern Univesrity, and graduated with a master's from the University of New Orleans. While at UNO, Williams said he had plans to create a horror film, but that plan was quickly scrapped.

"In the event that 'Stay Woke' or my thesis film would end up being the last film I ever made, would I want this horror film to be my calling card that I carry around, that I carried around with me for the rest of my life, or would I rather bring some other piece that has a little more meaning?" Williams said.

Williams wrote, directed, and edited the short film. It follows the story of a young man, a police officer, and a politician, telling a story that's often missed.

"I tried to capture this story that falls between the cracks," Williams said, "and that's the story of the gray zone, and that's the story of what really happens.

"Stay Woke" was selected to premiere at more than 30 film festivals, including the Cannes International Film Festival in France.

"Cannes is the biggest and most prestigious film festival in the world," Williams said, "and the ironic thing is it was the very first festival I heard back from out of all the festivals I submitted to.

"Stay Woke" will run at Cannes on May 17. Louisiana viewers have a chance to see the short film at UNO on May 13 at 5 p.m.