Poster art for Angela Davis documentary: Free Angela & All Political Prisoners
As reported by Deadline, Will Smith and Jay-Z have teamed up yet again (the two rappers-turnt-moguls jointly backed our beloved FELA! The Musical, lest y'all forget) to get behind the forthcoming documentary on 70s activist Angela Davis. Smith's Overbrook Entertainment and Roc Nation will share executive production duties on the film Free Angela And All Political Prisoners, a documentary following the years Davis was implicated in charges of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy, which is slated to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9th--the 40th anniversary of her acquittal. Describing her approach, director Shola Lynch said of the film:
“Free Angela and All Political Prisoners is a documentary movie that asks how a bookish 26-year-old philosophy professor ends up on the FBI’s Most Wanted List and an international political icon in the early 1970s. The story is a political crime drama with a love story in the middle and many questions that can’t be answered.”
Jada Pinkett-Smith, speaking on behalf of Overbrook Entertainment added:
“We at Overbrook Entertainment are very proud to support this intriguing documentary about the life of Angela Davis. Filmmaker Shola Lynch has done an incredible job in revealing a piece of American history we thought we all knew.”
The doc features interviews with Davis, her lawyers, FBI agents assigned to the case, and journalists who covered one of the most volatile trials of the ’60s, a media spectacle that engendered an international movement to free Davis. Watch the trailer below and stay tuned for more info as we get it.
spotted at SC
