Thursday, January 30 | 7:30 pm
“Tony-winning Broadway actor Cynthia Erivo stars in Kasi Lemmons’ inspiring biopic about renowned abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery and risked her life to lead others to freedom through the network of safehouses known as the Underground Railroad.
Lifting the heroic icon from the pages of history and into an epic, timeless tale, Harriet brings to the big screen the surge of faith, principle, and raw courage that drove diminutive Araminta Ross to greatness. Living under slavery on a Maryland plantation in the 1840s, Ross (Cynthia Erivo) goes by the name Minty. About half the state’s Black residents are free and half enslaved. Minty knows the risk, but when opportunity comes, she sets out at night, alone, to walk 100 miles north to Philadelphia.
Director Kasi Lemmons (Eve’s Bayou) crafts this sequence as edge-of-your-seat adventure, with Minty evading bounty hunters and the threat of betrayal at every turn. Terence Blanchard’s soaring score is especially notable in these scenes. Along the way, Minty gains help from the loose collection of new friends and abolitionists known as the Underground Railroad. Once in Philadelphia, she meets Marie (Janelle Monáe), a sophisticated, free-born woman who helps her to claim her place and power in the new society. In a scene rich with emotion, Minty takes her new name: Harriet Tubman.” -TIFF
*Academy Award®-nominated for Best Actress and Original Song.
Director Kasi Lemmons | 2019 | In English | 125 minutes | PG-13 (for thematic content throughout, violent material and language including racial epithets) | DCP