Toni Morrison’s life has finally been immortalized on screen in the documentary Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am.
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January to glowing reviews, including Shadow And Act’s Aramide A. Tinubu, who called the film “a comprehensive examination of Morrison, the perseverance of Black women and how we understand ourselves as a people.”
Directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Morrison’s friend of over 35 years, the documentary tells Morrison’s life story, starting from her childhood in Ohio to her times with Muhammad Ali and Angela Davis.
According to the official description: From her childhood in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio to ‘70s-era book tours with Muhammad Ali, from the front lines with Angela Davis to her own riverfront writing room, Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, America, history and the human condition as seen through the prism of her own work. Inspired to write because no one took a “little Black girl” seriously, Morrison reflects on her lifelong deconstruction of the master narrative. Woven together with a rich collection of art, history, literature and personality, the film includes discussions about her many critically acclaimed novels, including The Bluest Eye, Sula and Song of Solomon, her role as an editor of iconic African-American literature and her time teaching at Princeton University.
Along with Morrison’s own words, the film features interviews with Davis, Fran Lebowitz, Hilton Als, Sonia Sanchez, Walter Mosley, Farah Griffin and Oprah Winfrey, who brought Morrison’s book Beloved to the screen in 1998.
Watch the official trailer:
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Photo: Magnolia
