Emancipation (2022 film)

Emancipation (2022 film)
File:Emancipation Release Poster.jpg Release poster
Directed by	Antoine Fuqua
Produced by	Todd Black Joey McFarland Jon Mone Will Smith
Written by	William N. Collage
Starring	Will Smith Ben Foster Charmaine Bingwa
Music by	Marcelo Zarvos
Cinematography	Robert Richardson
Edited by	Conrad Buff IV
Production company	Apple Studios Westbrook Studios McFarland Entertainment Escape Artists
Distributed by	Apple TV+
Release dates	December 2, 2022 (2022-12-02) (United States) December 9, 2022 (2022-12-09) (Apple TV+)
Running time	132 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$120–162 million

Emancipation is a 2022 American historical action thriller film set in Louisiana in the 1860s after President Abraham Lincoln declared an end to slavery in the US. The film was directed by Antoine Fuqua and co-produced by Will Smith, who stars as a runaway slave headed for Baton Rouge. He must survive the swamps while being chased by slave catchers and their dogs. Written by William N. Collage, the biographical film is loosely based on the real-life story of Peter and/or Gordon, one or two formerly enslaved Black men whose photographs, including one of a bare back heavily scourged from an overseer's whippings, were published as magazine illustrations worldwide in 1863, and gave the abolitionist movement proof of the cruelty of slavery. The film also stars Ben Foster as a ruthless slave hunter and Charmaine Bingwa as an enslaved wife and mother. The film employs an artistic desaturated color palette reminiscent of black-and-white film.

Producer Joey McFarland began researching the story of Gordon in 2018, and hired Collage to write the script. The film was officially announced in June 2020, with Fuqua to direct and Smith to star. Filming took place in Louisiana between July and August 2021, with Apple paying $130 million to acquire the rights to the film, outbidding several other studios.

Emancipation had its first screening in Washington, D.C. on October 1, 2022, and was released in select cinemas on December 2, 2022, before a streaming release on December 9, by Apple TV+. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Smith's performance, but criticized the screenplay and its handling of real-life events.

Plot

In the 1860s, the African-American enslaved Peter escapes from Louisiana to freedom. In the opening scene, Peter is seen sitting on the floor kneeled before his wife. His children are sitting around him, eagerly listening to the words he speaks as he washes his wife’s feet. Suddenly a group of white men appear in the doorway and tells Peter to “come on boy”. They snatched him out of the house and Peter puts up a brief fight until one of the men points a gun at his wife’s head. He then tell the men that he will walk. Peter is then hit in the back of his head, put into the back of a cage and taken from his family. Destination unknown.

Cast

• Will Smith as Peter
• Ben Foster as Fassel
• Charmaine Bingwa as Dodienne
• Steven Ogg as Sergeant Howard
• Mustafa Shakir as Andre Cailloux
• Timothy Hutton as Senator John Lyons
• Gilbert Owuor as Gordon
• Grant Harvey as Leeds
• Ronnie Gene Blevins as Harrington
• Jabbar Lewis as Tomas
• Michael Luwoye as John
• Aaron Moten as Knowls
• Imani Pullum as Betsy
• David Denman as General William Dwight

Production

On June 15, 2020, it was reported that Antoine Fuqua would direct Will Smith in Emancipation, based on a spec script written by William N. Collage. Producer Joey McFarland, who had started researching and developing the film in 2018, recruited Collage to write the script. On making the film, Fuqua said:

"It's almost two years now from when I first read the script. It hit my heart and my soul in so many ways that are impossible to convey but I think you understand. We're watching some of the feeling that I had, in the streets right now. There's sadness, there's anger, there's love, faith and hope ... That's important to see, and the most hopeful thing that I'm seeing, that they're not going to stand for it anymore."

Warner Bros, MGM, Lionsgate, and Universal Pictures bid on the film before Apple ultimately won distribution rights for over $130 million. In August 2021, Ben Foster, Charmaine Bingwa, Gilbert Owuor, and Mustafa Shakir joined the cast. Smith earned $35 million for his part in the film.

Principal photography was expected to begin on May 3, 2021, in Los Angeles. It was later set to begin on June 21, 2021, in Georgia, but on April 12, it was announced that the film would be shot elsewhere due to the recently-enacted Election Integrity Act of 2021. Smith and Fuqua said in a joint statement: "We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access." The location move was reported to have cost approximately $15 million. Filming was announced to take place in New Orleans from July 12 to August 21, 2021. On August 2, filming paused for five days as a result of several positive COVID-19 tests. Additional casting for the film was announced in November and December.

Release

A screening of Emancipation was held at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 51st Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., on October 1, 2022, with Smith and Fuqua in attendance to give a subsequent Q&A discussion. It also screened in Los Angeles, on October 24, 2022. The film premiered in theaters on December 2, 2022, followed by a December 9 release on Apple TV+.

In May 2022, the film's release was reportedly delayed to a 2023 date, with the given reasons being numerous production delays, the controversy over Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards, and an overcrowded film release schedule from Apple. It was subsequently moved to its December 2022 date.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 45% of 152 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Emancipation works as an action movie – albeit one that's uncomfortably at odds with its awkward handling of the real-life events that inspired its stirring story." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 53 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Accolades

Accolades received by Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Black Reel Awards	February 6, 2023	Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female	Charmaine Bingwa	Nominated
		Outstanding Cinematography	Robert Richardson	Nominated
Hollywood Music in Media Awards	November 16, 2022	Original Score — Feature Film	Marcelo Zarvos	Nominated
NAACP Image Awards	February 25, 2023	Outstanding Motion Picture	A Jazzman's Blues	Pending
		Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture	Antoine Fuqua	Pending
		Outstanding Costume Design	Francine Jamison-Tanchuck'	Pending
		Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture	Will Smith	Pending
		Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture	The cast of A Jazzman's Blues	Pending
Women Film Critics Circle	December 19, 2022	Invisible Woman Award	Charmaine Bingwa	Won

See also

• List of films featuring slavery

External links

• Emancipation at IMDb