Prom Night in Mississippi
Encyclopedia
2009 in film
The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note...
Canadian documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
written and directed by Paul Saltzman
Paul Saltzman
Paul Saltzman is a two-time Canadian Emmy Award-winning film and television producer-director with more than 300 films to his credit. The 2008 documentary feature, Prom Night in Mississippi, featuring actor Morgan Freeman, was his most recent film and premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film...
. The documentary follows a group of 2008 Charleston High School
Charleston High School (Mississippi)
Charleston High School is a public high school in Charleston, Mississippi, United States.The school held its first racially integrated prom in April 2008, which was the subject of the 2008 HBO documentary Prom Night in Mississippi...
high school seniors in Charleston, Mississippi
Charleston, Mississippi
Charleston is a city in North Central Mississippi and one of the county seats of Tallahatchie County. The population was 2,198 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Charleston is located at ....
as they prepare for their senior prom
Senior Prom
Senior Prom is a still-classified United States Air Force program to develop a stealth unmanned aerial vehicle for reconnaissance purposes , designed to be launched from a Lockheed DC-130, B-52 Stratofortress, or B-1 Lancer.-Origin and development:The program began in the late 1970s after the...
, the first racially integrated
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
prom in Charleston history.
Background & production
The prom was funded by Morgan FreemanMorgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
, a Charleston resident, and exposed racial tension in the town, mainly among administrators and parents of the students of the high school. Filmed on location in Mississippi, Prom Night in Mississippi was directed by Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Paul Saltzman with his wife Patricia Aquino acting as producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. It was filmed over a four-month period on a budget of $750,000 of the director's own money. The crew shot over 165 hours of footage, 89 minutes of which were used in the final version. It was shown on HBO, premiered in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
on November 12, 2009, and had its theatrical release on December 11, 2009.
Documentary
The documentary is about the senior promSenior Prom
Senior Prom is a still-classified United States Air Force program to develop a stealth unmanned aerial vehicle for reconnaissance purposes , designed to be launched from a Lockheed DC-130, B-52 Stratofortress, or B-1 Lancer.-Origin and development:The program began in the late 1970s after the...
in Charleston, Mississippi. The high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Charleston (a community of 2,100 residents) has an average of 80 graduates per year, and up until 2008 had separate, segregated proms
Segregated prom
A segregated prom refers to the practice of United States high schools, generally located in the "Deep South", of holding racially segregated proms for white and black students. The practice spread after these schools were integrated, and persists in a few rural places to the present day...
for black students and white students, despite Mississippi fully integrating their schools in 1970. In 1997 Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
(a resident of Charleston since 1991) approached the school and offered to pay for the prom, provided it be racially integrated. The school declined Freeman's offer. In 2008 Freeman offered again, and the school agreed to move forward with an integrated prom.
Saltzman follows a group of students, both black and white, over four months as they prepare for their senior prom. The students discuss segregation in Charleston and how they feel about it. The documentary also explores issues such as interracial relationships, and what the parents think about an integrated prom. The integrated prom is successful despite some parents' forbidding their children to attend it, and that a white only prom was held by some of the parents. The film brought some racial tension to the town of Charleston, mostly from the parents and school authorities concerned with "tradition and security issues", with a group of parents planning a separate prom for white students only.
Awards & nominations
- 2009, Won Target Filmmaker Award for Best Documentary, AFI Dallas International Film FestivalAmerican Film InstituteThe American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
- 2009, Won Audience Choice Award, Jackson Crossroads Film Festival
- 2009, Won Audience Choice Award, Oxford Film Festival, MississippiMississippiMississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
- 2009, Nominated for Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema – Documentary at Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...