Black History Month

42, is the powerful story of Jackie Robinson, the legendary baseball player who broke Major League Baseball s color barrier when he joined the roster of the Brooklyn Dodgers. 42 will star Academy Award(R) nominee Harrison Ford ( Witness ) as the innovative Dodger s general manager Branch Rickey, the MLB executive who first signed Robinson to the minors and then helped to bring him up to the show, and Chadwick Boseman ( The Express ) as Robinson, the heroic African American who was the first man to break the color line in the big leagues.

Marshall, Texas, described by James Farmer, Jr. as the last city to surrender after the Civil War, is home to Wiley College, where, in 1935-36, inspired by the Harlem Renaissance and his clandestine work as a union organizer, Professor Melvin Tolson coaches the debate team to a nearly-undefeated season that sees the first debate between U.S. students from white and Negro colleges and ends with an invitation to face Harvard University s national champions. The team of four, which includes a female student and a very young James Farmer, is tested in a crucible heated by Jim Crow, sexism, a lynch mob, an arrest and near riot, a love affair, jealousy, and a national radio audience.

Chairman Fred Hampton was 21 years old when he was assassinated by the FBI, who coerced a petty criminal, William O Neal, to betray him and the Black Panther Party. In 1968, Hampton became Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, who were fighting for freedom, the power to determine the destiny of the Black community, and an end to police brutality. Hampton was inspiring a generation, which put him directly in the line of fire of the FBI and Chicago PD. To destroy the revolution, they had to do it from both the outside and the inside. Facing prison, O Neal is offered a deal by the FBI: if he will infiltrate the Black Panthers and provide intel on Hampton, he will walk free. O Neal lives in fear that his treachery will be discovered even as he rises in the ranks. But as Hampton s fiery message draws him in, he cannot escape the deadly trajectory of his betrayal.

A powerful and thought-provoking true story, Just Mercy follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Larson). One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Foxx), who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the only testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie. In the years that follow, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds — and the system — stacked against them.

The story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. s historic struggle to secure voting rights for all people — a dangerous and terrifying campaign that culminated with the epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and led to President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

SUMMER OF SOUL is part music film, part historical record created around an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture and fashion. Over the course of six weeks in the summer of 1969, just one hundred miles south of Woodstock, The Harlem Cultural Festival was filmed in Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park). The footage was never seen and largely forgotten-until now. SUMMER OF SOUL shines a light on the importance of history to our spiritual well-being and stands as a testament to the healing power of music during times of unrest, both past and present. The feature includes never-before-seen concert performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, The 5th Dimension and more.