In Need of Seawater Brings Poetry to Life on Film

Tracing the Creative Origins of an American Writer

National Online Release January 10, Following Baltimore Premiere

BALTIMORE, Jan. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- In Need of Seawater is a documentary short by writer Mark Anthony Thomas that brings poetry to life through performance-driven filmmaking. Critics have praised the film for transforming poetry into an immediately engaging cinematic experience, highlighting its performance-driven approach, emotional clarity, and accessibility for audiences beyond traditional literary circles.

Premiering Saturday, January 10, with an in-person screening in Baltimore followed by a national online release later that evening, the film avoids traditional documentary structure, relying instead on performance and visual composition to carry meaning without exposition.

Beneath that approach is a distinctly American story. In Need of Seawater reflects the early formation of an Atlanta-native writer who would go on to become the first Black Editor-in-Chief of The Red & Black at the University of Georgia, lead award-winning investigative journalism at City Limits in New York City, and later serve in senior economic development roles in Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and now Baltimore after earning degrees from Columbia University and MIT.

Rather than relying on interviews or chronology, the film uses poetry and performance to follow a young Black man as he wrestles with identity, confronts inherited barriers, reflects on the legacy of civil rights, and claims voice and authorship within America—before credentials or leadership roles defined the work.

"These poems were written during a formative period of my life," said Thomas. "For those who value poetry and literature, the film offers a new way to encounter the work. By translating the poems into a multimedia form, it also opens the material to wider audiences—foregrounding emotional vulnerability and a shared sense of resilience."

Directed by Richard Yeagley, In Need of Seawater is shaped by a collaborative cast of performers, led by Ziaire Mann, whose presence helps carry the film's emotional and narrative movement. Together, the cast translates Thomas's poetry into shared, embodied moments, allowing performance and human interaction to guide the experience on screen.

"We began by filming an intimate poetry performance," said Yeagley. "The goal was to make the audience feel present in the room, experiencing the poems firsthand. From there, the film evolved to include additional visual layers—images that function as memory and metaphor—placing performance, memory, and personal history in dialogue with the text."

Produced by Mark Anthony Thomas, Richard Yeagley, Scott Burkholder, and Dustin Kuhns, with visual identity and cover art by artist Jeffrey Kent, In Need of Seawater was fully produced in Baltimore with local collaborators. The film serves as the opening chapter of a planned three-part poetic documentary trilogy examining creative life across past, future, and present.

More information, reviews, and film assets:
 www.markanthonythomas.com/seawater

SOURCE Mark Anthony Thomas