American Violet

Posted on October 13, 2009 at 8:00 am

Meet two extraordinary women — Dee Roberts, based on a real-life single mother who took on corrupt and racist law enforcement officials in Texas and Nicole Beharie, the woman who plays her, who makes one of the most thrilling feature film debuts in years.

Dee is a single mother who lives in the projects. She works as a waitress and cares for her four daughters with the help of her mother (Alfre Woodard), a hairdresser. Her community is constantly being caught up in violent law enforcement sweeps that result in widespread arrests of people too poor, uninformed, and desperate to go to court. The county and state get federal funds based on conviction rates so they push hard, often without any real evidence. And the people who have been arrested, all black and all poor, have no resources to defend themselves and settle for plea bargains, not realizing that the admission of guilt will cut off their welfare payments and right to vote.

An ACLU lawyer (Tim Blake Nelson) arrives in town willing to challenge the district attorney (Michael O’Keefe), but he needs local counsel and he needs a plaintiff — someone who has been abused by the process to file the lawsuit. Only Dee has the courage and passion for justice to challenge the established power in her city.

Thankfully, the film avoids the too-frequent failure of making the white characters the heroes of a civil rights story. In this case, it is in part due to a skillful screenplay by Bill Haney and to Beharie’s star power in a performance of extraordinary sensitivity and fire. She has a mesmerizing ability to convey the mingled emotions of fear and resolve while maintaining sweetness and dignity. Her interactions with the four real-life sisters who play her young daughters feels completely authentic and as she thinks through her choices we feel we can see her weigh every option. The story is a classic American triumph of the oppressed through the court system but Dee is more than a client and a figurehead; she is an essential strategist, coming up with a crucial change of plans at the case’s turning point, and a constant source of inspiration. “After what they done to me, they made it my business,” she tells her mother.

It hits a little heavily on the implications of the 2000 election but wisely puts the story in context so that it is clear that the problem is systemic and not the result of one official or one town. Even more wisely, it keeps the focus on Dee, who as portrayed by Beharie is truly mesmerizing.

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Based on a true story Courtroom Crime

Interview: Bill Haney of ‘American Violet’

Posted on April 19, 2009 at 9:22 am

“American Violet,” the fine new film about the real-life woman who took on corrupt and racist law enforcement officials in 2000, was written by Bill Haney. It was a very great pleasure to get to talk to him about the film.

Tell me a little about your background and about what made you want to write this story.

I grew up in a Benedictine monastery in Rhode Island. My dad was a teacher there and I went to school there and left to go to college. It was there I got the general idea that the goal of life isn’t to get something from the world but to give something to the world. The purpose of storytelling is to illuminate and express something useful about the human condition, sometimes joyful, sometimes distracting, but in an ideal world, constructive. I like stories about an ordinary person called upon to do something extraordinary. I heard Wade Goodman on NPR talking about this case in Texas. His storytelling was classic NPR expositional context so that I felt compelled and moved, and that was what launched the journey to find the people and write the story.

It seems to me to be a essentially American story — an underdog seeking justice.

It is a systemically frustrating view of American justice, and the way they fought to get justice. We’ve been doing these word-of-mouth screenings with really interesting discussions. One woman said she was really pleased to see the message that we can get change through the system, that if we are educated and stand up it can work.

I am often of critical of films that set the lighting for the white characters and do not to justice to black skin tones but this film lights the black characters beautifully.

That was important to us, too. It is challenging to make sure the visual beauty is equally spread.

What has happened to the real-life woman who is called Dee in the movie?

In a lot of ways she is doing great. At one level this has been a marathon experience for her. She stayed in the community until four weeks ago. She’s gone through a lot of struggles including some serious health problems. She’s still there and he’s still there so it hasn’t ended, but it has been cathartic for her to get this experience out there. She’s a bright, charismatic woman. But her community is blighted. In the local high school, 169 entered as freshmen, but only three graduated and none went to college. There are these inherent limitations and she pierced right through that. She’s out giving talks, finding a voice and a place in society. Her children have found this process hugely validating and inspiring. Telling her story this way helped them respect and admire her. She is articulate and persuasive. It has left some marks on her but she is stronger and a person with a bigger voice in her world as a result.

What are some of the movies you saw when you were young that inspired you to want to make films?

At the all boys school we had no television but we had these screenings on Saturday nights. I saw “Guns of Navarone” and was completely smitten. I love Peter Weir movies, especially “The Year of Living Dangerously” — a magical story for me.

What are you working on next?

I’ve outlined three movies and a documentary about endangered species. Half my work is connected to something around the environment and food will be at the core of the next movie. Food is a great subject because it is about love, health, appreciation, beauty, soulfulness, and humor.

What makes you laugh?

PG Wodehouse. My wife has me on a Wodehouse allocation. She will only let me read for like 15 minutes at a time. I love dry humor, fish out of water stories. My own three kids make me laugh — kids know how to surf your waves. If you’re not laughing at them you’re laughing with them. I love Abbott and Costello and Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” and Jim Jarmusch’s “Night on Earth.”

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Based on a true story Interview

Breakthrough Perfomer: Nicole Beharie

Posted on April 16, 2009 at 12:00 pm

“American Violet” is based on the true story of a woman who helped to expose corrupt and racist law enforcement in her Texas community with the help of the ACLU and local counsel. Dee, the lead role, is played by newcomer Nicole Beharie in a stunning performance mingling strength and vulnerability. Dee is afraid but never loses her dignity or her moral center. Be sure to check out Beliefnet’s exclusive clip to get a glimpse. Beharie is simply dazzling in this film and I look forward to seeing whatever she does next. I was thrilled to get a chance to interview her and found her every bit as engaging in person as she is on screen.
I was very relieved to find that this movie was not another in a long series that make the white person the hero in a story about black people. Although the lawyers are important, Dee really is the heart of the film. A lot of that comes from the vitality of your performance.
Thank you! But a lot of that comes from the script and their not wanting to do that. And some comes from the woman herself. Dee was very vocal up to the last deposition and suggested they use the African-American lawyer to depose the sheriff. It was a godsend that the attorneys showed up, but even before the lawyers showed up, Dee was active and outspoken.
Dee had to make some very tough choices under a lot of pressure. Could you have been as brave and persistent as she was?
I don’t know! Some days I say yes, some days no way. I like to believe that I could, seeing how much she sacrificed and how much it meant to her. It has made me think about what you do for the things you care about and what you ignore. Too often people do not do anything. They say, “They know what they’re doing” or “That’s the system.”
One thing that really impressed me was how many emotions you were able to convey at once — in some scenes you had to be scared and brave, worried and determined all at the same time. What do you to to prepare for a scene like the deposition or the one where your want to keep your daughters from their father and his girlfriend?
You take it all as personally as you possibly can, try to connect to it personally. What I thought of in the scene with my children’s father in that moment was fear for my children, a little bit of guilt in having them in this predicament, but once he busted those doors, its not about me — its about those two girls.
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What is your background?
I went to arts high school in Greenville, South Carolina, a public school for the arts and humanities. I fell in love with the notion of doing theater then. My director asked me to apply to drama school and gave me the 100 dollars for the Julliard application. I was accepted and studied there.
One thing that is so endearing about Dee is that with all of the stress and difficulty of her life, she still takes the time for some very serious hair. How do you act under all that?
Yes, Dee did give attention to her hair! I give a lot of credit to Charles Gregory Ross, who designed the hair and had it all laid out so I did not have to sit for hours. The most difficult thing was the bun with the freeze curls, all pinned and manipulated, and really heavy! Alfre Woodard had to deal with it to. She had a different look in every scene.
Your interaction with the girls who play your daughters feels very real and natural, even in the intense scenes. How did you work with them to make that happen?
I got a lot of my perspective from watching my mother raise the four of us. And when I first got to the set, before anything else happened, I got to work with the four real-life sisters who played my daughters. They had their own shorthand and hierarchy. They don’t know my name to this day. My name is Dee to them so it was natural for them to interact with me that way. And we involved them in the movie. All the artwork that is supposed to be from Dee’s children, so they got to see their own pictures hanging in Dee’s home.
Did you ever meet the woman known as Dee in the movie? What did you try to take from her in your performance?
I met her once I got to the set, but by then I had watched hours of footage. I paid attention to the way she looked out of the corner of her eye, to rhythmic things, to her pitch.
Are their particular performances that inspired you to want to go into acting?
“Miss Evers Boys” with Alfre, which made working with her so exciting for me, believe it or not “Ghostbusters,” “The Sound of Music,” “The Wiz.” I love Michel Gondry and really enjoyed his films, “Be Kind Rewind” and “The Science of Sleep.”
What’s next for you?
I did pilot for CBS, a medical show, and I play a social worker. And I have an Annenberg grant to develop my own material. I’m working on a theater program in South Africa.
And what makes you laugh?
My sister and my nephew make me laugh. He’s 12! My grandmother, too — my family will have me on the floor. They’re the only people who know what my goofy capabilities are.
Coming soon: an interview with “American Violet” screenwriter Bill Haney.

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