the lena baker story – limited screening this weekend

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I heard about this movie during last year’s Atlanta Film Festival. But unfortunately, I heard about it too late to get a ticket to the sold-out premiere. Fortunately – for me and for you – there’s a second chance to catch the film this weekend.

Hope and Redemption: The Lena Baker Story is a film that was inspired by the book, The Lena Baker Story written by Dr. Lela Bond Phillips. Both works cover the real-life account of the complex relationship between a black woman with a sordid past and a white man with an abusive personality in Jim Crow era Georgia. The black woman is Lena Baker, the only woman to have been sent to the electric chair in Georgia.

The film – which was written, produced, and directed by Ralph Wilcox – is set and shot on location in southwest Georgia, and stars Tichina Arnold (Everybody Hates Chris) as Lena Baker, and Peter Coyote as her employer/abuser and the man she is accused of murdering.

 

 
I’m not typically one to hype a ‘black film’ dealing with race issues in the Jim Crow south. I’ve seen enough of them to pretty much be able to predict what the movie will be about. But The Lena Baker Story is rumored to be much more than a trite ‘we shall overcome’ flick, presenting a more nuanced view of the flaws and ultimate redemtion of the individuals involved in the story. Besides that, it’s a true Georgia-grown indie film, and one of the surefire ways for it to get national distribution is by having a strong audience showing at local and regional screenings. So – for that reason alone – I’m inclined to check it out.

Hope and Redemption: The Lena Baker Story screens this weekend (Fri-Sun) at Movies ATL.

Dates:
Friday, March 13th – Sunday, March 15th

Show Times:
12:40pm, 3:00pm, 5:20pm, 7:50pm & 10:15pm

Location:
Movies ATL | 3760 Princeton Lakes Parkway | Atlanta, GA 30331

cheers,

k

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