Nationwide (BlackNews.com) — Arlette Thomas-Fletcher, a resident of Reisterstown, Maryland has been writing, producing and directing award winning Christian-based plays, music videos and short films for more than a decade. Thomas-Fletcher is the first African American to serve as the president of the Women In Film and Video chapter in Maryland and the owner of Fruits of The Spirit Production Company. When one first meets Arlette Thomas-Fletcher you immediately know from her smile that she is a woman you can count on and is always willing to help others. Being a giver, it makes it hard for Thomas-Fletcher to find herself on the side of asking for help from others to finish her first feature film.

Thomas-Fletcher is directing her first feature film, THE LONESOME TRAIL, on what she calls, “A Wing and a Prayer”. Arlette Thomas-Fletcher is a “Trail Blazer” in every sense of the word as she is the first African American, woman to Write, Direct and Executive Produce a western movie. Thomas-Fletcher’s love for horse’s and westerns stems from her childhood where she grew up around farming, horses, watching western movies and television shows with her father as a very young age.

When asked why a faith-based western, filmmaker, Thomas-Fletcher said, “I wrote THE LONESOME TRAIL because I wanted to tell a story of compassion of a preacher coming to a small town to bring the word of God that centers around the theme of forgiveness, family, faith and compassion for people of all races.” The main character of the film, a handsome young, preacher (Peter Wray) that comes to Red Springs, a small western town in the 1890’s and changes it forever. The wealthy landowner, (Donald Imm) finds himself in the fight for the love of his life, school teacher, (Kelly Russell Schwartz), Mc Cray must figure out how to stop Preacher Brent from moving “Colored” homesteaders, (Lamont Easter and Antoinette Greene-Fisher) into “his” town and taking the land he has claimed as his own.

THE LONESOME TRAIL, an original script written and directed by Thomas-Fletcher, and produced by award winning producer Romell Foster-Owens has already started making a buzz by winning “Best Screenplay” at the 2016 Christian Film Festival and being an official selection of the 2016 Los Angeles Cine Film Festival. (Click the link to see the 3-minute trailer: THE LONESOME TRAIL Trailer www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JpOqwn5mhQ)

To complete the film, the filmmaker is seeking funding of $45,000 to donate $25 or more to help them complete the film go to www.thelonesometrail.com/donate-film. All donations are tax deductible and the funds will go towards the editing, visual effects, sound design, music scores, coloration, film festival submissions, travel, and marketing and distribution packages.

THE LONESOME TRAIL feature film is a co-production between The Fruits of The Spirit Productions (www.fruitsofthespiritproductions.com) and Jowharah Films (www.jowharahfilms.com).