PromNightInMississippi Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Segregated Proms Are Getting More Play with Jennifer Aniston
Filed under: Drama », Deals », Scripts »
It looks like there's a push to reveal the lingering strings of segregation in Mississippi. From HotDocs, I shared word of Prom Night in Mississippi, a great documentary covering Morgan Freeman's attempt to stop the segregated proms in his hometown. Now The Hollywood Reporter posts that Screen Gems is getting ready for a similar account called Holler, which was written by Dana Adam Shapiro, and will be produced by Jennifer Aniston's Echo Films.Said to be based on true events, the film will follow a bi-racial student who heads back to his Mississippi hometown with his mother. He falls for a white girl, and is shocked when he learns that she can't be his prom date due to lingering segregation. "He soon finds himself the catalyst for change for not only the prom but for the school and entire town." I wonder if he calls up Freeman for help?
Shapiro is the director of the Oscar-nominated Murderball, as well as the environmental short My Biodegradable Heart, so this should mix the romance and drama with a decent amount of social conscience. (It could also have some quirk, if The Every Boy is any indication.) This probably won't kick any segregation-lovers into the 21st century, but at least it gets the story out there. In the meantime, you can check out Prom Night in Mississippi on HBO.
Dispatches from Hot Docs: Thelonious Jazz to Pet Tigers
Filed under: Documentary », Exhibition », Review Roundup », Other Festivals »

When you get half-way through a festival and find yourself liking every film, you begin to wonder if you're not being critical enough. Were they all really that good? Did excitement cloud the picky nature of judgment? It can happen. How many times do we go see a movie with a crowd who loves it, then watch it on our own and hate it? As much as we can gripe and moan about the foibles of Hollywood, it's not entirely difficult to get swept up in excitement. (Or, for that matter, distaste.)
Inevitably, a film will pop up into the mix and you'll realize: no, you're not being too kind. Some are bad, and some fail. Hitting the half-way mark at HotDocs, I got the balancing slap of failed promise, some more worthy picks, and only one true stinker. Read on for docs about the one-and-only Thelonious Monk, living in the public eye, and more.









