Black stories surge in Hollywood
Just a few years after the #OscarsSoWhite uproar in Hollywood, Black culture is making its mark on this year's award season with critically acclaimed films such as One Night in Miami, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and this week's release, Judas and the Black Messiah.
Available on the American streaming service HBO Max — and for a premium price on demand across Canada, the movie tells the story behind the killing in 1969 of 21-year-old Black Panther activist Fred Hampton at the hands of Chicago police.
The “Judas” of the tale is FBI informant Bill O'Neal, who was encouraged to infiltrate the Black power movement and whose actions led to the fatal raid on the apartment where Hampton lay sleeping.
“White Hollywood has attempted to try in the past to stifle voices that weren't white, and that s--t's over. It's a good time and things are moving forward,” said LaKeith Stanfield, who said he sought to find some humanity in his portrayal of O'Neal.
Judas and the Black Messiah and its cast have already received multiple award nominations, including one for British actor Daniel Kaluuya as Hampton.
Kaluuya, who starred in horror film Get Out, said he felt privileged to play the charismatic chairman
of the Chicago branch of the Black Panther Party.
“There have been so many versions of the film that people have attempted to make, and they haven't happened ... I just felt honoured, honoured, honoured, honoured, honoured and blessed,” Kaluuya said.
Hampton's son, Fred Hampton Jr., who was born after his father's death, was on the set every day of filming.
“He was really supportive,” said Kaluuya.
“He cared about getting things right ... I just felt the stakes and how important it was to me that you've got this man here, who didn't get to meet his father, and I wanted to honour his family and chairman Fred's legacy.”