From Apm Studios and award-winning journalist Lee Hawkins, What Happened in Alabama? is a new limited series podcast about the intergenerational ripple effect of Jim Crow segregation on Lee’s family, dating back to the 1600s.
The 10-part series premieres on Wednesday, May 15. Listeners can subscribe now and listen to the trailer on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all podcast platforms.
Remarked Hawkins: “I was a small kid when I started hearing my father’s frequent nightmares in the middle of the night. When I mustered the courage to ask him what he was dreaming about, ‘Alabama, son. Alabama,’ was his only answer. This podcast and my forthcoming book are the result of several years of my work – with my dad’s help – to investigate 400 years of family history, to finally uncover the answer. My probe into my family’s history under slavery and Jim Crow helped me understand my father,...
The 10-part series premieres on Wednesday, May 15. Listeners can subscribe now and listen to the trailer on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all podcast platforms.
Remarked Hawkins: “I was a small kid when I started hearing my father’s frequent nightmares in the middle of the night. When I mustered the courage to ask him what he was dreaming about, ‘Alabama, son. Alabama,’ was his only answer. This podcast and my forthcoming book are the result of several years of my work – with my dad’s help – to investigate 400 years of family history, to finally uncover the answer. My probe into my family’s history under slavery and Jim Crow helped me understand my father,...
- 5/15/2024
- Podnews.net
Barbara O. Jones, an actress in the independent Black cinema of 1970s Los Angeles in such films as Bush Mama and Daughters of the Dust, has died at her home in Dayton, Ohio. She was 82.
Her brother, Marlon Minor, confirmed her April 8 death to The New York Times and said the cause had not been determined.
Jones moved from the Midwest in search of a film career, and became active in the UCLA film school, a movement that has been called the L.A. Rebellion.
She appeared in several short student films, including Child of Resistance (1973), in which she played an imprisoned activist loosely based on Angela Davis, and Diary of an African Nun (1977), adapted from a short story by Alice Walker.
Her first leading role in a feature film was in Bush Mama (1979). The movie’s story followed the daily life of Dorothy, played by Jones. The film was...
Her brother, Marlon Minor, confirmed her April 8 death to The New York Times and said the cause had not been determined.
Jones moved from the Midwest in search of a film career, and became active in the UCLA film school, a movement that has been called the L.A. Rebellion.
She appeared in several short student films, including Child of Resistance (1973), in which she played an imprisoned activist loosely based on Angela Davis, and Diary of an African Nun (1977), adapted from a short story by Alice Walker.
Her first leading role in a feature film was in Bush Mama (1979). The movie’s story followed the daily life of Dorothy, played by Jones. The film was...
- 5/5/2024
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Barbara O. Jones, the admired actress who emerged from the L.A. Rebellion movement of Black filmmakers at UCLA in the 1970s to star in Haile Gerima’s Bush Mama and Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust, has died. She was 82.
Jones died Tuesday at her home in Dayton, Ohio, her brother, Raymond Minor, told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Rest In Peace & Power,” Dash wrote on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Julie Dash (@dash_julie)
For Gerima, Jones portrayed an imprisoned woman fighting for social justice in the 36-minute short film Child of Resistance (1973) — the character was inspired by activist Angela Davis — and a welfare recipient in Watts who undergoes an ideological transformation in the filmmaker’s feature debut, Bush Mama (1979). Both films were made at UCLA.
Jones starred as a Ugandan nun questioning her faith in Dash’s 13-minute student film Diary of an...
Jones died Tuesday at her home in Dayton, Ohio, her brother, Raymond Minor, told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Rest In Peace & Power,” Dash wrote on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Julie Dash (@dash_julie)
For Gerima, Jones portrayed an imprisoned woman fighting for social justice in the 36-minute short film Child of Resistance (1973) — the character was inspired by activist Angela Davis — and a welfare recipient in Watts who undergoes an ideological transformation in the filmmaker’s feature debut, Bush Mama (1979). Both films were made at UCLA.
Jones starred as a Ugandan nun questioning her faith in Dash’s 13-minute student film Diary of an...
- 4/18/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
We sat down with Roger Ross Williams, Ibram X Kendi & Mara Brock Akil to talk about the importance of their new film – Netflix’s Stamped from the Beginning. Directed by Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams, based on Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s New York Times best-selling book of the same name, it exposes the long-standing and powerful presence of anti-black racism in American history, using vivid animations and leading female scholars to explore the history of anti-Black racist ideas.
Leading female academics and activists such as Dr. Angela Davis, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Dr. Jennifer L. Morgan, and Dr. Kendi guide viewers through a searing account of how racist tropes and imagery were developed and enshrined in American culture
Linda Marric asks the questions.
Stamped from the Beginning is available to watch on Netflix now.
Stamped from the Beginning Interviews
The post Stamped from the Beginning Interviews – Roger Ross Williams,...
Leading female academics and activists such as Dr. Angela Davis, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Dr. Jennifer L. Morgan, and Dr. Kendi guide viewers through a searing account of how racist tropes and imagery were developed and enshrined in American culture
Linda Marric asks the questions.
Stamped from the Beginning is available to watch on Netflix now.
Stamped from the Beginning Interviews
The post Stamped from the Beginning Interviews – Roger Ross Williams,...
- 11/22/2023
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
In the spring of 2022, Ibram X. Kendi was recognized as one of the most banned authors in America. The National Book Award winner’s passionate reporting on the permeation of racist ideas throughout American history riled up conservative proponents, leading to three of Kendi’s tomes being banned in six school districts across multiple states. Now, his efforts to expose racist ideology is the subject of a new Netflix documentary, Stamped From the Beginning.
Stamped From the Beginning, based on Kendi’s 2016 book of the same name, shines a light...
Stamped From the Beginning, based on Kendi’s 2016 book of the same name, shines a light...
- 11/22/2023
- by Kalia Richardson
- Rollingstone.com
The 2023 Montclair Film Festival, one of the Northeast’s top regional fall fests, announced Wednesday that the Nicolas Cage film “Dream Scenario” will serve as this year’s opening night feature, while new films from Alexander Payne, Roger Ross Williams, Todd Haynes, and Matthew Heineman will also screen during the annual event.
“Dream Scenario,” due out in November via A24, premiered at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and won rave reviews for Cage. The feature will kick off the 2023 Montclair Film Festival on October 20 followed by a conversation with writer-director Kristoffer Borgli.
“Stamped from the Beginning,” Williams’ documentary, will serve as the 2023 Mff Documentary Centerpiece screening. That event takes place on October 22, and Williams will attend for a post-screening Q&a.
“The Holdovers” – Payne’s top awards contender following its splashy showing at the Telluride Film Festival and in Toronto, where it was runner-up for the TIFF audience...
“Dream Scenario,” due out in November via A24, premiered at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and won rave reviews for Cage. The feature will kick off the 2023 Montclair Film Festival on October 20 followed by a conversation with writer-director Kristoffer Borgli.
“Stamped from the Beginning,” Williams’ documentary, will serve as the 2023 Mff Documentary Centerpiece screening. That event takes place on October 22, and Williams will attend for a post-screening Q&a.
“The Holdovers” – Payne’s top awards contender following its splashy showing at the Telluride Film Festival and in Toronto, where it was runner-up for the TIFF audience...
- 9/20/2023
- by Christopher Rosen
- Gold Derby
This festival season brought with it a pair of ambitious adaptations of scholarly texts. In Venice, Ava DuVernay premiered Origin, a narrative take on Isabel Wilkerson’s tome, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. The Selma director anchored her adaptation in a tender love story, using Wilkerson’s personal life to understand the intellectual and emotional labor supporting the book’s framework. And at the Toronto International Film Festival, Roger Ross Williams debuted his own film translation of an influential text on race.
In Stamped From the Beginning, Williams uses Ibram X. Kendi’s book of the same name to recast the narrators of Black history. The documentary, which will premiere on Netflix in November, convenes contemporary Black women scholars and organizers to synthesize and contextualize Kendi’s central thesis. The author makes the briefest appearances throughout the film, attesting to Williams’ mission to center Black women.
There’s a...
In Stamped From the Beginning, Williams uses Ibram X. Kendi’s book of the same name to recast the narrators of Black history. The documentary, which will premiere on Netflix in November, convenes contemporary Black women scholars and organizers to synthesize and contextualize Kendi’s central thesis. The author makes the briefest appearances throughout the film, attesting to Williams’ mission to center Black women.
There’s a...
- 9/19/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The 48th edition kicked off with actors and writers on strike, so many of the stars who attended trekked across the border with both their passports and SAG-AFTRA interim agreements in hand.
The cast of “Dicks: The Musical” didn’t learn they could participate until the eleventh hour. “Thank you, A24, for making a fucking deal that a trillion-dollar tech company won’t [make],” writer-star Josh Sharp told the crowd at the movie’s Midnight Madness screening.
Another last-minute addition was Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” which premiered in Venice.
“This film is meant to be a conversation starter,” DuVernay said while introducing the film, then quoted activist Angela Davis. “She says, ‘Walls turned sideways are bridges,’ and that’s what we hope this film becomes: a bridge.”
Here’s a look at some of the highlights from this year’s festival:...
The cast of “Dicks: The Musical” didn’t learn they could participate until the eleventh hour. “Thank you, A24, for making a fucking deal that a trillion-dollar tech company won’t [make],” writer-star Josh Sharp told the crowd at the movie’s Midnight Madness screening.
Another last-minute addition was Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” which premiered in Venice.
“This film is meant to be a conversation starter,” DuVernay said while introducing the film, then quoted activist Angela Davis. “She says, ‘Walls turned sideways are bridges,’ and that’s what we hope this film becomes: a bridge.”
Here’s a look at some of the highlights from this year’s festival:...
- 9/18/2023
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Since hip-hop's inception, the culture has been a male-dominated space. Women have had to fight for their right to exist alongside their male peers, exercise autonomy over their bodies, and rap without restrictions. It's no secret that the culture of hip-hop is inherently fueled by misogyny and patriarchy; female rappers have been ostracized, while their male counterparts stand to gain. But in recent years, an influx of women rappers have emerged, ushering in a resurgence of sexually explicit lyrics that have jolted mainstream music, social media, and even politics. Yes, women in music have always talked about their sexual prowess; women rappers are simply continuing a long and strong tradition of Black women loudly reclaiming their own sexuality, most notably under the umbrella of "pussy rap."
For hip-hop's 50th anniversary, it's important to honor those who gave rise to and continued to iterate on the subgenre - one of the...
For hip-hop's 50th anniversary, it's important to honor those who gave rise to and continued to iterate on the subgenre - one of the...
- 8/2/2023
- by Mikeisha Vaughn
- Popsugar.com
Spike Lee and the photographs, album covers, movie posters, letters, books, costumes and film memorabilia that have inspired him will be explored through a new immersive exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum.
Spike Lee: Creative Sources will offer an in-depth look at the individuals, places and influences that have shaped the Oscar winner’s work. Running Oct. 6, 2023 to Feb. 4, 2024 and organized by Kimberli Gant, a curator of modern and contemporary art, with Indira A. Abiskaroon, curatorial assistant, modern and contemporary art at the Brooklyn Museum, the installation will feature over 300 objects displayed thematically in seven sections, each of which will feature a clip from one of Lee’s films.
“By making Lee’s collection accessible to the public, this showcase celebrates his legacy while honoring his deep connection to Brooklyn, a place that has been an integral part of his storytelling,” Gant said in a statement.
The seven sections of influences span Black history and culture,...
Spike Lee: Creative Sources will offer an in-depth look at the individuals, places and influences that have shaped the Oscar winner’s work. Running Oct. 6, 2023 to Feb. 4, 2024 and organized by Kimberli Gant, a curator of modern and contemporary art, with Indira A. Abiskaroon, curatorial assistant, modern and contemporary art at the Brooklyn Museum, the installation will feature over 300 objects displayed thematically in seven sections, each of which will feature a clip from one of Lee’s films.
“By making Lee’s collection accessible to the public, this showcase celebrates his legacy while honoring his deep connection to Brooklyn, a place that has been an integral part of his storytelling,” Gant said in a statement.
The seven sections of influences span Black history and culture,...
- 7/10/2023
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Prime Video has a great selection of movies to watch for summertime, which officially begins this month. Whether you’re in the mood for a classic romantic comedy, an action-filled franchise or some more nostalgic films, there are options for everyone. Freevee will have “Back to the Future” films as well as “The Hunger Games” series. The first two “Creed” films will also land on the streamer in June.
Romantic films include “Crazy Rich Asians” adapted from Kevin Kwan’s novel, and “Love, Rosie” starring Lily Collins, Sam Claflin, Suki Waterhouse and more. With Juneteenth mid-month, options like “Toni Morrison: The Pieces That I Am” and “The Color Purple” also await viewing.
Below, we offer our curated picks for the best new movies on Amazon Prime Video in June 2023.
“Crazy Rich Asians” (2016) Warner Bros.
Adapted from Kevin Kwan’s book, “Crazy Rich Asians” took big strides for the Aapi community...
Romantic films include “Crazy Rich Asians” adapted from Kevin Kwan’s novel, and “Love, Rosie” starring Lily Collins, Sam Claflin, Suki Waterhouse and more. With Juneteenth mid-month, options like “Toni Morrison: The Pieces That I Am” and “The Color Purple” also await viewing.
Below, we offer our curated picks for the best new movies on Amazon Prime Video in June 2023.
“Crazy Rich Asians” (2016) Warner Bros.
Adapted from Kevin Kwan’s book, “Crazy Rich Asians” took big strides for the Aapi community...
- 6/29/2023
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
Tom Luddy wasn’t famous exactly. But he had a huge impact on film culture via Uc Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive in the ’60s and the Telluride Film Festival in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and up to his death in February at age 79. And while he was based in the Bay Area, a theater full of Luddy-philes from both coasts turned up for his tribute at New York’s packed Paris Theater on April 15. They represented the cross-cultural network that Luddy created over decades of introducing people, sharing his favorite film gems, and luring folks to Telluride by inviting their films or bringing them in as guest directors (like Stephen Sondheim or Salman Rushdie) or tributees (like Athol Fugard or Michael Powell). Once they came, they usually came back.
Five of the stalwarts in the Luddy family, who have supported the festival on the Telluride board of directors and in other ways,...
Five of the stalwarts in the Luddy family, who have supported the festival on the Telluride board of directors and in other ways,...
- 4/16/2023
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Madonna was due to perform one of the final shows on her Drowned World Tour at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. By noon, the show had been rescheduled and the world had changed irrevocably.
After completing the tour, she wasted little time before getting straight back in the studio with producer Mirwais, with whom she had created most of 2000’s Music. Shaken by 9/11, Madonna was in a period of introspection, telling reporters that fame and fortune had made her oblivious to the gruesome realities of the world.
After completing the tour, she wasted little time before getting straight back in the studio with producer Mirwais, with whom she had created most of 2000’s Music. Shaken by 9/11, Madonna was in a period of introspection, telling reporters that fame and fortune had made her oblivious to the gruesome realities of the world.
- 4/14/2023
- by Gary Grimes
- Rollingstone.com
Leyna Bloom, a pioneering actress and model, has broken many barriers as a trans woman of color. You might recognize her for becoming the first Black and Asian trans woman to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated's annual Swim issue in 2021.
This Transgender Day of Visibility, we asked Bloom to talk about her journey - both the challenges she's faced and her great triumphs. In a time when lawmakers are introducing unprecedented anti-trans legislation and the safety of trans Americans is under threat, Bloom and others are loudly advocating for trans rights and deserve to be heard.
I was raised in Chicago on the South Side. When I was around 9, my mom was deported by immigration back to the Philippines, so I was raised by my father. My dad was an artist who also volunteered his time working in the neighborhood, helping people out. But the thing that...
This Transgender Day of Visibility, we asked Bloom to talk about her journey - both the challenges she's faced and her great triumphs. In a time when lawmakers are introducing unprecedented anti-trans legislation and the safety of trans Americans is under threat, Bloom and others are loudly advocating for trans rights and deserve to be heard.
I was raised in Chicago on the South Side. When I was around 9, my mom was deported by immigration back to the Philippines, so I was raised by my father. My dad was an artist who also volunteered his time working in the neighborhood, helping people out. But the thing that...
- 3/31/2023
- by Leyna Bloom
- Popsugar.com
The Civil Rights movement is composed of singular heroes: Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, Fred Hampton, Angela Davis, and so forth. Their iconoclastic memory has come to define the entire collective effort during the 1950s, 60s, and 1970s by many organizations. They, of course, do not tell the whole history of the coordinated action that occurred during the era. Geeta Gandbhir and Sam Pollard’s “Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power,” a swift, potent documentary about a town nestled in the heart of Jim Crow Alabama, aims to rectify that misunderstanding.
Continue reading ‘Lowndes County And The Road To Black Power’: A Potent Doc About A Town In The Heart Of Jim Crow Alabama [Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Lowndes County And The Road To Black Power’: A Potent Doc About A Town In The Heart Of Jim Crow Alabama [Review] at The Playlist.
- 12/3/2022
- by Robert Daniels
- The Playlist
For most artists, standing on stage at New York’s Lincoln Center next to a gaggle of celebrities and staring out into a packed audience as your gear unceremoniously craps out on you would be nothing short of a living nightmare. (Imagine standing there fiddling with your guitar pedal while Alexander Skaarsgard looks on with pity, or fumbling with your soundboard as Maggie Gyllenhaal waits to go on.) For Mariah Parker, though, it was just another challenge to be met head-on, with no sweat and no apologies. When their laptop...
- 10/17/2022
- by Kim Kelly
- Rollingstone.com
The FBI had a 270-page file on the late music icon Aretha Franklin after spying on her for 40 years, an investigation from Rolling Stone has found. The Queen of Soul, who died of cancer in August 2018, aged 76, was reportedly the target of surveillance, subjected to false phone calls and had her inner circle infiltrated by spies, according to documents obtained by Rolling Stone from the organisation, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
According to the outlet, the lengthy file is filled with phrases such as “Black extremists,” “pro-communist,” “hate America,” “radical,” “racial violence,” and “militant Black power” and was filled with suspicion about the singer, her work, and the activists and entertainers she spent time with.
The FBI regularly tracked the ‘Respect’ singer’s addresses and phone numbers and seemed to be particularly interested in her civil rights work and association with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Angela Davis.
According to the outlet, the lengthy file is filled with phrases such as “Black extremists,” “pro-communist,” “hate America,” “radical,” “racial violence,” and “militant Black power” and was filled with suspicion about the singer, her work, and the activists and entertainers she spent time with.
The FBI regularly tracked the ‘Respect’ singer’s addresses and phone numbers and seemed to be particularly interested in her civil rights work and association with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Angela Davis.
- 10/3/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
From 1967 to 2007, the Federal Bureau of Investigation methodically collected information about Aretha Franklin using false phone calls, surveillance, infiltration, and highly-placed sources, according to the documents obtained in September by Rolling Stone.
Franklin’s FBI file — first requested in via the Freedom of Information Act on Aug. 17, 2018 — is 270 pages long, peppered with phrases like “Black extremists,” “pro-communist,” “hate America,” “radical,” “racial violence,” and “militant Black power” and overflowing with suspicion about the singer, her work, and the other activists and entertainers with whom she she spent time. Some documents are...
Franklin’s FBI file — first requested in via the Freedom of Information Act on Aug. 17, 2018 — is 270 pages long, peppered with phrases like “Black extremists,” “pro-communist,” “hate America,” “radical,” “racial violence,” and “militant Black power” and overflowing with suspicion about the singer, her work, and the other activists and entertainers with whom she she spent time. Some documents are...
- 10/2/2022
- by Jenn Dize and Afeni Evans
- Rollingstone.com
PBS’ “American Masters” series will chronicle the life and work of Dr. Anthony Fauci in the documentary “Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci,” PBS president/CEO Paula Kerger announced on Wednesday. The doc, which the public broadcaster revealed during its portion of the Television Critics Assn. press tour, will air in spring 2023.
According to PBS, the doc followed Fauci for 14 months, starting with Inauguration Day 2021 — nearly a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, gaining access “in his office and in the corridors of power as he battles the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the political onslaught that upends his life and calls into question his 50-year career as the United States of America’s leading advocate for public health.”
“Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci” will air on PBS after a planned theatrical release.
That was one of several announcements made on a virtual TCA panel by Kerger,...
According to PBS, the doc followed Fauci for 14 months, starting with Inauguration Day 2021 — nearly a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, gaining access “in his office and in the corridors of power as he battles the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the political onslaught that upends his life and calls into question his 50-year career as the United States of America’s leading advocate for public health.”
“Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci” will air on PBS after a planned theatrical release.
That was one of several announcements made on a virtual TCA panel by Kerger,...
- 7/27/2022
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
PBS on Wednesday revealed its programming plans for the coming year, including a second season of Native America and the premiere of the American Masters documentary about Anthony Fauci.
Native America is returning for four new episodes in 2023. Having first premiered in 2018, Season 2 presents stories of Native Americans who are carrying forward Indigenous values to transform the world.
PBS will launch a new documentary series next summer called Southern Storytellers, which celebrates creatives from across the south. It’s from filmmaker Craig Renaud.
The Bigger Picture, a new series from the Wnet Group, will bow August 9 on the PBS YouTube Channel. It’s hosted by Harvard University Historian Dr. Vincent Brown.
Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci will premiere in spring 2023 on PBS. It follows Fauci for a year and offers a behind-the-scenes look at his career, his struggles and successes during the Covid pandemic
American...
Native America is returning for four new episodes in 2023. Having first premiered in 2018, Season 2 presents stories of Native Americans who are carrying forward Indigenous values to transform the world.
PBS will launch a new documentary series next summer called Southern Storytellers, which celebrates creatives from across the south. It’s from filmmaker Craig Renaud.
The Bigger Picture, a new series from the Wnet Group, will bow August 9 on the PBS YouTube Channel. It’s hosted by Harvard University Historian Dr. Vincent Brown.
Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci will premiere in spring 2023 on PBS. It follows Fauci for a year and offers a behind-the-scenes look at his career, his struggles and successes during the Covid pandemic
American...
- 7/27/2022
- by Lynette Rice
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Dina Meyer (All American), Aaron Dominguez (Only Murders in the Building), Julia Tolchin (Loveland), Colin Bates (Broadway’s Girl from the North Country) and Jason Wiles (Third Watch) will star in the comedy Katie’s Mom (formerly The Dropout), marking the feature directorial debut of Tyrrell Shaffner.
The film is about a divorcée, played by Meyer, whose holiday celebration with her adult children derails when she falls for her daughter’s charming new boyfriend, played by Dominguez. Its cast also includes Jade Ramirez (You Cannot Hide), Clara York (Euphoria), Lexie Stevenson (The Young and The Restless) and Shannon Dee (Good Girls).
Shaffner and Meryl Branch-McTiernan wrote the script, which was a quarterfinalist in the Academy’s Nicholl screenplay competition two years in a row. Branch-McTiernan and Shaffner are producing for their banner Ex Files Productions alongside Corey Moss (White Elephant) of Bold Soul Studios. Executive Producers include Milan Chakraborty...
The film is about a divorcée, played by Meyer, whose holiday celebration with her adult children derails when she falls for her daughter’s charming new boyfriend, played by Dominguez. Its cast also includes Jade Ramirez (You Cannot Hide), Clara York (Euphoria), Lexie Stevenson (The Young and The Restless) and Shannon Dee (Good Girls).
Shaffner and Meryl Branch-McTiernan wrote the script, which was a quarterfinalist in the Academy’s Nicholl screenplay competition two years in a row. Branch-McTiernan and Shaffner are producing for their banner Ex Files Productions alongside Corey Moss (White Elephant) of Bold Soul Studios. Executive Producers include Milan Chakraborty...
- 7/15/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Crooked Media and Audacy have teamed up on a new podcast series about radical left wing organization The Weather Underground.
The two companies have set Mother Country Radicals, which will get its world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival on June 8. You can get a first listen to the trailer below.
The series is hosted by playwright Zayd Ayers Dohrn, son of Weather Underground leaders Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers.
Fifty years after the Weather Underground’s bombing of the Pentagon, Mother Country Radicals is a highly personal, politically charged account of a counterculture group of young activists in pursuit of radical change through any means necessary.
It will feature Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers in their own voices, and intimate interviews with Weather Underground members like Jeff Jones and Kathy Boudin, in one of the last recordings before her passing.
The ten-part series also captures the 1970s from figures like Fred Hampton,...
The two companies have set Mother Country Radicals, which will get its world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival on June 8. You can get a first listen to the trailer below.
The series is hosted by playwright Zayd Ayers Dohrn, son of Weather Underground leaders Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers.
Fifty years after the Weather Underground’s bombing of the Pentagon, Mother Country Radicals is a highly personal, politically charged account of a counterculture group of young activists in pursuit of radical change through any means necessary.
It will feature Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers in their own voices, and intimate interviews with Weather Underground members like Jeff Jones and Kathy Boudin, in one of the last recordings before her passing.
The ten-part series also captures the 1970s from figures like Fred Hampton,...
- 5/26/2022
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
“Between the World and Me” is coming to HBO, and the premium cabler’s adaptation of the acclaimed book will boast an all-star cast.
WarnerMedia announced on Wednesday that the special, which will air on HBO on November 21, will feature Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Angela Davis, Alicia Garza, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Jharrel Jerome, Mimi Jones, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Ledisi, Janet Mock, Jason Moran, Joe Morton, Wendell Pierce, Phylicia Rashad, Greg Alverez Reid, Mj Rodriguez, Kendrick Sampson, Yara Shahidi, Nate Smith, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Courtney B. Vance, Olivia Washington, Pauletta Washington, Susan Kelechi Watson, Michelle Wilson, and Oprah Winfrey.
The 2015 “Between the World and Me” non-fiction book, written by Coates and formatted as a letter to his teenage son, centers on the author’s thoughts and experiences on being Black in the United States. Originally adapted and staged by the Apollo Theater in 2018, HBO’s special will combine elements of that production,...
WarnerMedia announced on Wednesday that the special, which will air on HBO on November 21, will feature Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Angela Davis, Alicia Garza, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Jharrel Jerome, Mimi Jones, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Ledisi, Janet Mock, Jason Moran, Joe Morton, Wendell Pierce, Phylicia Rashad, Greg Alverez Reid, Mj Rodriguez, Kendrick Sampson, Yara Shahidi, Nate Smith, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Courtney B. Vance, Olivia Washington, Pauletta Washington, Susan Kelechi Watson, Michelle Wilson, and Oprah Winfrey.
The 2015 “Between the World and Me” non-fiction book, written by Coates and formatted as a letter to his teenage son, centers on the author’s thoughts and experiences on being Black in the United States. Originally adapted and staged by the Apollo Theater in 2018, HBO’s special will combine elements of that production,...
- 10/1/2020
- by Tyler Hersko
- Indiewire
HBO has shared a new animated teaser for its upcoming special based on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ celebrated book, Between the World and Me, which will premiere November 21st at 8 p.m. Et/Pt.
The special is based largely on a stage adaptation of Between the World and Me, which ran at the Apollo Theater in 2018. The filmed version will combine elements of that production, including readings from Coates’ book, along with documentary footage from the lives of the all-star cast, archival footage and animation.
The cast for Between the World and...
The special is based largely on a stage adaptation of Between the World and Me, which ran at the Apollo Theater in 2018. The filmed version will combine elements of that production, including readings from Coates’ book, along with documentary footage from the lives of the all-star cast, archival footage and animation.
The cast for Between the World and...
- 9/30/2020
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
The cast of HBO’s adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me” just keeps on getting bigger and more stellar.
This time around, nine new players have joined the fray, including Mahershala Ali, Angela Davis and Ta-Nehisi Coates himself. HBO has also announced that the special will premiere Saturday, Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. Et/Pt.
Originally adapted and staged by the Apollo Theater in 2018, the special will combine elements of that production, including readings from Coates’ book, and will once again be directed by Apollo Theater executive producer Kamilah Forbes. It will also incorporate documentary footage from the actors’ home life, archival footage, and animation. The special, which is currently in production under Covid-19 guidelines, will also be available to stream on HBO Max.
The new cast members also include Angela Davis, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Mimi Jones, Ledisi, Greg Alverez Reid, Nate Smith and Olivia Washington.
It...
This time around, nine new players have joined the fray, including Mahershala Ali, Angela Davis and Ta-Nehisi Coates himself. HBO has also announced that the special will premiere Saturday, Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. Et/Pt.
Originally adapted and staged by the Apollo Theater in 2018, the special will combine elements of that production, including readings from Coates’ book, and will once again be directed by Apollo Theater executive producer Kamilah Forbes. It will also incorporate documentary footage from the actors’ home life, archival footage, and animation. The special, which is currently in production under Covid-19 guidelines, will also be available to stream on HBO Max.
The new cast members also include Angela Davis, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Mimi Jones, Ledisi, Greg Alverez Reid, Nate Smith and Olivia Washington.
It...
- 9/30/2020
- by Will Thorne
- Variety Film + TV
HBO set the premiere date and added more cast members to its special event “Between the World and Me” on Wednesday, including “Moonlight” actor Mahershala Ali, political activist Angela Davis, Tip “T.I.” Harris, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of the New York Times best-selling book on which the project is based.
Set to premiere on HBO on Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. Et/Pt, the special was originally adapted and made into a stage show by the Apollo Theater in 2018. For HBO, it’s being produced under Covid-19 guidelines, combining elements of that production including powerful readings from Coates’ book and documentary footage from the actors’ home life, archival footage, and animation.
Other new cast members just added are Mimi Jones, Ledisi, Greg Alverez Reid, Nate Smith and Olivia Washington. The full cast includes Angela Bassett, Alicia Garza, Jharrel Jerome, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Ledisi, Janet Mock, Jason Moran, Joe Morton, Wendell Pierce,...
Set to premiere on HBO on Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. Et/Pt, the special was originally adapted and made into a stage show by the Apollo Theater in 2018. For HBO, it’s being produced under Covid-19 guidelines, combining elements of that production including powerful readings from Coates’ book and documentary footage from the actors’ home life, archival footage, and animation.
Other new cast members just added are Mimi Jones, Ledisi, Greg Alverez Reid, Nate Smith and Olivia Washington. The full cast includes Angela Bassett, Alicia Garza, Jharrel Jerome, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Ledisi, Janet Mock, Jason Moran, Joe Morton, Wendell Pierce,...
- 9/30/2020
- by Margeaux Sippell
- The Wrap
Mahershala Ali, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Angela Davis, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Mimi Jones, Ledisi, Greg Alverez Reid, Nate Smith and Olivia Washington round out the cast of Between The World And Me, HBO’s adaptation of the stage show based on Coates’ New York Times bestseller. Additionally, the premium cabler has slotted Saturday, November 15 at 8 Pm Et/Pt for the premiere of the special, which was produced under Covid-19 guidelines. You can watch a teaser below.
They join previously announced Angela Bassett, Alicia Garza, Joe Morton, Phylicia Rashad, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Courtney B. Vance, Pauletta Washington, Susan Kelechi Watson, Oprah Winfrey, Jharrel Jerome, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Janet Mock, Jason Moran, Wendell Pierce, Mj Rodriguez, Kendrick Sampson, Yara Shahidi and Michelle Wilson.
Originally adapted and staged by the Apollo Theater in 2018, the special will combine elements of that production, including readings from Coates’ book, and will again be directed by award-winning...
They join previously announced Angela Bassett, Alicia Garza, Joe Morton, Phylicia Rashad, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Courtney B. Vance, Pauletta Washington, Susan Kelechi Watson, Oprah Winfrey, Jharrel Jerome, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Janet Mock, Jason Moran, Wendell Pierce, Mj Rodriguez, Kendrick Sampson, Yara Shahidi and Michelle Wilson.
Originally adapted and staged by the Apollo Theater in 2018, the special will combine elements of that production, including readings from Coates’ book, and will again be directed by award-winning...
- 9/30/2020
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
“The whole world ’bout to testify,” Janelle Monáe promises on the song and music video for “Turntables.” It is the multifaceted artist’s first song since 2019’s “That’s Enough,” for the Disney+ live-action remake of Lady and the Tramp.
The song is featured in All In: The Fight for Democracy. Directed by Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés (The Remix: Hip Hop X Fashion), the Amazon Studios documentary is about voter suppression which is being released in tandem with the studio’s #AllInForVoting bipartisan campaign. The campaign intends to inspire voter turnout during the 2020 presidential election season. And what is more inspiring than a Janelle Monáe song? Her last album, Dirty Computer, which was released two years ago, ended with the anthemic “Americans.”
Working with long-time collaborator Nate “Rocket” Wonder, Monáe amplifies the voices of people putting themselves on the front line. Directed by Child, the song’s accompanying emotion...
The song is featured in All In: The Fight for Democracy. Directed by Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés (The Remix: Hip Hop X Fashion), the Amazon Studios documentary is about voter suppression which is being released in tandem with the studio’s #AllInForVoting bipartisan campaign. The campaign intends to inspire voter turnout during the 2020 presidential election season. And what is more inspiring than a Janelle Monáe song? Her last album, Dirty Computer, which was released two years ago, ended with the anthemic “Americans.”
Working with long-time collaborator Nate “Rocket” Wonder, Monáe amplifies the voices of people putting themselves on the front line. Directed by Child, the song’s accompanying emotion...
- 9/16/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
In his first interview in nearly two years, Jussie Smollett spoke to journalist Marc Lamont Hill about a wife range of issues connected directly, and tangentially, to his ongoing legal battle in Chicago. But while he was careful to be clear that he won’t speak about the specifics of that case — “I’m still taking the advice of my attorneys” — he did say that he isn’t sure “what staying quiet has really done.”
“It’s been beyond frustrating because to be somebody that’s so outspoken … it’s been difficult to be so quiet. To not be able to say all of the things that you want to say, to not be able to yell from the rooftop,” he told Hill in the interview, which was posted to Hill’s Instagram on Wednesday night. “Because, I don’t think people realize that I’ve just been wrapped up...
“It’s been beyond frustrating because to be somebody that’s so outspoken … it’s been difficult to be so quiet. To not be able to say all of the things that you want to say, to not be able to yell from the rooftop,” he told Hill in the interview, which was posted to Hill’s Instagram on Wednesday night. “Because, I don’t think people realize that I’ve just been wrapped up...
- 9/10/2020
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
Bold, colorful, often playful strokes, grounded in character, culture, and period detail, wrapped in an effortless elegance and sense of taste — costume designer John Dunn is one of the most distinctive visual storytellers working in television today. Having come up in the New York film world, working with directors like Martin Scorsese (“Casino”), Jim Jarmusch (“Ghost Dog”), John Sayles (“City of Hope”), Julian Schnabel (“Basquiat”), Jonathan Glazer (“Birth”), and Todd Solondz (“Storytelling”), and after doing the pilot of “Mad Men” for Matthew Weiner, Dunn followed Scorsese into the world of peak TV with the HBO series “Vinyl” and “Boardwalk Empire” — demonstrating his knack for elegant period style and, like he did in “Casino,” capturing, celebrating, and commenting on the excessive of characters at the center of acute cultural moments. Prestige TV has all too often become synonymous with historical recreation, yet no artisan has used their craft to open the...
- 6/22/2020
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
Sundance premiere Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am begins its theatrical run in several New York and L.A. theaters today via Magnolia Pictures. Filmmaker/photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders directed the doc about the Nobel laureate, whom he had known for years. Young actor Jacob Tremblay has a Seth Rogen-produced comedy, Good Boys, set for August, but first he will be on the big (and small) screen this weekend with Burn Your Maps, starring opposite Vera Farmiga, bowing in a day and date release. Jessie Buckley, meanwhile, goes country in Neon’s Wild Rose, which debuted out of last year’s Toronto. The title plays New York and L.A. ahead of an expanded roll out to other major markets next weekend.
Other limited releases set for their launches today include Sundance Selects doc, The Quiet One following the three-decaf career of The Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman as well as Metrograph Pictures’ second release,...
Other limited releases set for their launches today include Sundance Selects doc, The Quiet One following the three-decaf career of The Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman as well as Metrograph Pictures’ second release,...
- 6/21/2019
- by Brian Brooks
- Deadline Film + TV
(Updated with Colin Kaepernick response) The biggest TV event of the year is losing one of Hollywood’s most high-profile directors as a viewer.
Ava DuVernay tweeted that she will not be “a spectator, viewer or supporter” of Super Bowl Liii due to what she called the NFL’s “racist treatment” of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. She concluded her message by writing, “To watch the game is to compromise my beliefs. It’s not worth it,” closing with a reprise of hashtag #ImWithKap.
Nick Cannon tweeted his support soon after DuVernay took her stand. Common tweeted Saturday in support of #ImWithKap and The Chi creator Lena Waithe re-tweeted Kaepernick from Saturday showing famed activist Angela Davis wearing a jersey with his number seven and an #ImWithKap message. NBA stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant also wore Kaepernick jerseys this weekend.
And later today, the former San Francisco 49er...
Ava DuVernay tweeted that she will not be “a spectator, viewer or supporter” of Super Bowl Liii due to what she called the NFL’s “racist treatment” of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. She concluded her message by writing, “To watch the game is to compromise my beliefs. It’s not worth it,” closing with a reprise of hashtag #ImWithKap.
Nick Cannon tweeted his support soon after DuVernay took her stand. Common tweeted Saturday in support of #ImWithKap and The Chi creator Lena Waithe re-tweeted Kaepernick from Saturday showing famed activist Angela Davis wearing a jersey with his number seven and an #ImWithKap message. NBA stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant also wore Kaepernick jerseys this weekend.
And later today, the former San Francisco 49er...
- 2/3/2019
- by Dade Hayes and Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
NEWSCharles Burnett's Killer of SheepTwo exciting stories involving two forerunners of the L.A. Rebellion: Charles Burnett is set to direct the film Steal Away, about the escape of former slave-turned-politician Robert Smalls; while Julie Dash will be helming Lionsgate's Angela Davis biopic. GammaRay and Celestial pictures will be hosting a Shaw Brothers movie marathon on Twitch that will continue from February 4 to February 8. The globally-streaming marathon includes 44 full-length features from the Shaw Brothers’ catalog, so make sure to clear your calendars! Recommended VIEWINGThe release of Harmony Korine's long awaited follow-up to his lightening-in-a-bottle movie Spring Breakers is finally near. Here's a new trailer for the Miami-set, Matthew McConaughey-starring odyssey.A lovely miniature play with form: the U.S. trailer for Hong Sang-soo's Hotel by the River. Meanwhile, we are currently running a retrospective of Hong's films in the UK entitled Solving Puzzles: The Cinema of Hong Sang-soo.
- 1/31/2019
- MUBI
Toni Morrison’s artistic, cultural and historical legacies are by now firmly established, which doesn’t prevent “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” from revealing them anew and setting them out in an appreciative, and appropriate, package. An eloquent nonfiction biopic that travels creatively through the past, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ film is enlivened both by its own storytelling dexterity and by the participation of its subject, who at 87 years old remains as warm, vibrant and insightful as ever. With recent big-name docs about Fred Rogers and Ruth Bader Ginsberg proving the enormous appetite for such offerings, its fortunes seem considerable after its Sundance premiere.
The doc begins with Morrison recalling how she learned “words have power” from her grandfather, whose constant re-reading of the Bible during an era when it was illegal for African-Americans to be literate was a “revolutionary act” that opened her eyes to prose’s capacity to move,...
The doc begins with Morrison recalling how she learned “words have power” from her grandfather, whose constant re-reading of the Bible during an era when it was illegal for African-Americans to be literate was a “revolutionary act” that opened her eyes to prose’s capacity to move,...
- 1/29/2019
- by Nick Schager
- Variety Film + TV
28 years later, Julie Dash is finally making her sophomore feature. The “Daughters of the Dust” filmmaker is set to helm a biopic about Angela Davis, reports Shadow and Act, with Lionsgate producing. Dash made history with “Daughters of the Dust,” as it was the first feature film from a black woman to receive theatrical distribution in the United States. “Daughters of the Dust” premiered at Sundance in 1991, making it fitting that this news has emerged from the festival.
Davis, a well-known civil-rights activist and counterculture figure who was falsely accused of conspiracy to murder in 1970, was targeted by then-California Governor Ronald Reagan for being a member of the Communist Party USA; he attempted to have her barred from teaching at any college or university in the state. Davis, who holds a BA, Ma, and PhD, has authored several books and taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz, among others.
Davis, a well-known civil-rights activist and counterculture figure who was falsely accused of conspiracy to murder in 1970, was targeted by then-California Governor Ronald Reagan for being a member of the Communist Party USA; he attempted to have her barred from teaching at any college or university in the state. Davis, who holds a BA, Ma, and PhD, has authored several books and taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz, among others.
- 1/28/2019
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Exclusive: You may know her as Toni Morrison, but in this exclusive clip from the Sundance documentary Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, the prolific novelist, professor, and Nobel prize-winning writer unpacks the history and meaning of her birth name: Chloe Wofford.
Directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders,, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am serves up an intimate meditation on the life and works of the titular storyteller. From her childhood in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio to ‘70s-era book tours with Mohammed Ali, from the front lines with Angela Davis to her own riverfront writing room, Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, America, history and the human condition as seen through the prism of her own literature.
Morrison was inspired to write because no one...
Directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders,, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am serves up an intimate meditation on the life and works of the titular storyteller. From her childhood in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio to ‘70s-era book tours with Mohammed Ali, from the front lines with Angela Davis to her own riverfront writing room, Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, America, history and the human condition as seen through the prism of her own literature.
Morrison was inspired to write because no one...
- 1/24/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
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