Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker

Release Date:  3/20/20; Netflix – Limited Series
Genre:   Drama/Biography
Rating:  NR
Director(s):  Kasi Lemmons and DeMane Davis
Studio(s):  Netflix, SpringHill Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television

Story:  The four-part limited series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker will debut on Netflix on March 20.  In the series, Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer stars as Sarah Breedlove, known as Madam C.J. Walker, the black hair care pioneer and mogul who overcame hostile turn-of-the-century America, epic rivalries, tumultuous marriages and family challenges to become America’s first black, female self-made millionaire.  The series is inspired by the book, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles. Walker overcame post-slavery racial and gender biases, personal betrayals, and business rivalries to build a ground-breaking brand that revolutionized black hair care, as she simultaneously fought for social change.

Self Made also stars Blair Underwood as her husband C.J. Walker, Tiffany Haddish as her daughter Lelia, Carmen Ejogo as Walker’s business rival Addie Munroe, Garrett Morris as Walker’s father-in-law, Kevin Carroll as her longtime lawyer Freeman Ransom and Bill Bellamy as Ransom’s cousin, Sweetness.  Source(s):  Deadline; Elle.com.

Trailer:

Roman J. Israel, Esq.

a/k/a Inner City

Release Date:  11/17/17; In Theaters
Genre:  Drama/Crime
Rating:  PG-13
Running Time:  129 mins.
Director:  Dan Gilroy
Studios:   Bron Creative, Cross Creek Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment

Cast:  Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel), Colin Farrell (George), Carmen Ejogo (Maya)

Story:  Concerns an idealistic defense attorney with strong morals, who is dedicated to helping those who are socially oppressed. He’s offered a job at a prestigious law firm after the death of his longtime partner, but he then takes on a case that has life-altering repercussions.  Source:  Screen Rant.

Trailer:

Selma

Selma teaser poster

Release Date:  January 9, 2015
Genre:  Drama/Biography
Rating: Unknown
Studio:  Paramount Pictures, Cloud Eight Films, Celador Films,
Harpo Films, Pathe, Plan B Entertainment, Lee Daniels Entertainment
Director:  Ava DuVernay

Cast:  David Oyelowo (Martin Luther King, Jr.), Oprah Winfrey (Annie Lee Cooper), Carmen Ejogo (Coretta Scott King), Lorraine Toussaint (Amelia Boynton), Giovanni Ribisi (Lee C. White), Tim Roth (George Wallace), Cuba Gooding, Jr. (Fred Gray), Common (James Bevel), Tom Wilkinson (President Lyndon B. Johnson), Tessa Thompson (Diane Nash), Dylan Baker (J. Edgar Hoover), Wendell Pierce (Reverend Hosea Williams), Niecy Nash (Richie Jean Jackson), Lakeith Stanfield (Jimmie Lee Jackson).

Story:  The film chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement.  Source(s): AFI Fest.

Trailer: