Leading a creative, complex and controversial life, Newton was an enigmatic figure. In 1967, Newton was arrested for the murder of an Oakland police officer which inspired thousands world-wide to take up the chant, "Free Huey!" Acquitted in 1970, Huey emerged triumphantly, only to be confined in a penthouse apartment, his self-described "stucco cell." Newton and Seale articulated a ten-point plan of liberation which placed the Panthers in the international spotlight and made them the target of a well-documented program of government harassment.
In 1966, the 24-year-old Newton, with Bobby Seale, co-founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. Newton was born in a Monroe, Louisiana and moved with his family to Oakland, California as a child. Domestically, it has recently garnered NAACP Image Award nominations for Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special and Outstanding Actor in the same category. Newton Story has begun a similar trajectory, hailed at film festivals around the globeÑincluding Venice, London, Vancouver, Acapulco, Oslo, Jamaica and Havana. The play toured international stages for several seasons to critical and popular acclaim. Newton Story also features an Obie Award-winning score by Marc Anthony Thompson and guest solos by Grammy Award-winning Branford Marsalis. Taped before a live audience in New York City, A Huey P. Lee complements Smith's performance with an imaginative mixture of multiple camera angles and documentary footage in concert with frequent collaborators - designer Wynn Thomas, director of photography Ellen Kuras and editor Barry Alexander Brown. Newton Story is an original production of Luna Ray Films and BLACK STARZ! in association with PBS and the African Heritage Network. Newton Story, presented on PBS by KQED San Francisco on Wednesday, February 13 at 9 p.m. Lee and Smith bring to life Newton's history, philosophies and flavor in A Huey P. Newton Story marks the seventh collaboration of Smith and Lee, others including Do the Right Thing, School Daze, Malcolm X, Get on the Bus, He Got Game and Summer of Sam.
Smith's stream-of-consciousness monologue is inspired by the writings and interviews of Newton, the late co-founder of the Black Panther Party of Self-Defense. Newton Story into an innovative film for television directed by long-time colleague and Oscar-nominee Spike Lee. Actor and writer Roger Guenveur Smith has adapted his Obie Award-winning solo performance of A Huey P.
0 kommentar(er)
