Posted by | Ray Cornelius
For weeks now, I have been announcing casting calls for the upcoming film, “Best of Enemies” on my radio show #UPFRONT, not really knowing who was starring in it. Well, today it was announced that award winning actress Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell, would be teaming up as the film’s leads and I am simply thrilled!
“Best of Enemies” focuses on the unlikely friendship between outspoken Black activist, Ann Atwater and Ku Klux Klan member Claiborne Paul Ellis, during the turbulent 1960s in Durham, North Carolina. The film is being shot right here in Atlanta and reportedly begins shooting this week.
Ann Atwater and Claiborne Paul Ellis
According to THR, Atwater was a maid who became a social activist while Ellis was a laborer who began attending city meetings to speak on behalf of the poor white working class. The two were put on a committee overseeing the desegregation of schools where, after heated battles and much to their surprise, they discovered common ground: They both cared about the economical and educational well-being of their kids. The film’s script is based on the book Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South by Osha Gray Davidson.
Rounding out the cast is Anne Heche, Wes Bentley, Bruce McGill, Nick Searcy, John Gallagher Jr., Nadej K. Bailey and Babou Ceesay. Robin Bissell will serve as the film’s director.
Stay tuned…
Photo Credits: MercuryNews.com and Osha Gray Davidson