PROM NIGHT IN MISSISSIPPI (2008)
- Run Time: 90 min.
- Rating: Not Rated
- Director: Paul Saltzman
- Writer(s): Paul Saltzman
Stills
Plot Summary
In 1997, Academy Award winning actor Morgan Freeman went to his hometown of Charleston Mississippi and offered to fund the town’s first ever integrated Senior Prom. His offer was ignored. In 2008, Freeman made his offer again, and the school board finally accepted. The film follows the graduating class of Charleston High as black and white students alike cope with old prejudices and deep rooted racism while planning their first integrated prom. When a group of white parents try to hold their own whites-only prom, strong emotions and fragile race relations seem to threaten the whole project.
A deeply inspiring story about how determined young people can succeed against impossible odds, and a great example of the longstanding Canadian tradition of providing hard-hitting documentary perspectives on US culture.
“An upbeat portrait of youth anxious to shed their elders’ prejudices, this inspirational Canadian-produced documentary is a perfectly timed crowd pleaser”
– Dennis Harvey, Variety
About the Director
Paul Saltzman
Although a first-time feature director, with PROM NIGHT IN MISSISSIPPI, Paul Saltzman is a two-time Emmy Award-winning film and television director-producer with 300 productions and many awards to his credit. In 1965 he did civil rights work with SNCC—Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee—In Mississippi. In 1968 he was 2nd unit director and production manager on the first IMAX film. A published author and photographer, his most recent book is The Beatles in India.