From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2009 American film
Prom Night in Mississippi
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d2/Prom_Night_in_Mississippi.jpg/220px-Prom_Night_in_Mississippi.jpg) film poster
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Directed by
| Paul Saltzman
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Written by
| Paul Saltzman
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Produced by
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Cinematography
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Edited by
| - Stephen Philipson
- David Ransley
- Kevin Schjerning
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Music by
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Production
company
| Return to Mississippi Productions
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Distributed by
| HBO
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Release date
|
- December 11, 2009
(
2009-12-11
)
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Running time
| 90 minutes
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Country
| United States
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Language
| English
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Budget
| $750,000
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Morgan Freeman, a resident of Charleston, funded the first racially integrated prom in Charleston, which was the subject of
Prom Night in Mississippi.
Prom Night in Mississippi
is a 2009 Canadian-American
documentary film
written and directed by
Paul Saltzman
. The documentary follows a group of 2008
Charleston High School
high school seniors in
Charleston, Mississippi
as they prepare for their
senior prom
, the first
racially integrated
prom in Charleston history.
[1]
[2]
Background and production
[
edit
]
The prom was funded by
Morgan Freeman
, a Charleston resident, and exposed racial tension in the town, mainly among administrators and parents of the students of the high school. Filmed on location in Mississippi,
Prom Night in Mississippi
was directed by
Canadian
director
Paul Saltzman with his wife
Patricia Aquino
acting as
producer
. It was filmed over a four-month period on a budget of $750,000 of the director's own money. The crew shot over 165 hours of footage, 89 minutes of which were used in the final version.
[3]
It was shown on
HBO
,
[4]
premiered in
Toronto
on November 12, 2009, and had its theatrical release on December 11, 2009.
[3]
Documentary
[
edit
]
The documentary is about the
senior prom
in Charleston, Mississippi. The
high school
in Charleston (a community of 2,100 residents) has an average of 80 graduates per year, and up until 2008 had separate,
segregated proms
for Black students and White students,
[3]
despite Mississippi fully integrating their schools in 1970.
[5]
In 1997
Morgan Freeman
(a resident of Charleston since 1991) approached the school and offered to pay for the prom, provided it be racially integrated. The school declined Freeman's offer. In 2008 Freeman offered again, and the school agreed to move forward with an integrated prom.
[3]
Saltzman follows a group of students, both Black and White, over four months as they prepare for their senior prom. The students discuss segregation in Charleston and how they feel about it. The documentary also explores issues such as interracial relationships, and what the parents think about an integrated prom. The integrated prom is successful despite some parents' forbidding their children to attend it. The film brought some racial tension to the town of Charleston, mostly from the parents and school authorities concerned with "tradition and security issues",
[6]
with a group of parents planning a separate prom for White students only.
[3]
[7]
Recognition
[
edit
]
Awards and nominations
[
edit
]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Sood, Suemedha (June 11, 2008).
"Charleston's First Integrated Prom"
.
The Nation
. Retrieved
2011-10-27
.
- ^
Poulou, Penelope (March 9, 2009).
"
'Prom Night in Mississippi' Makes History"
.
VOA News
. Retrieved
2009-11-17
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Schneller, Johanna (November 13, 2009).
"Morgan Freeman talks about his Prom Night in Mississippi"
.
The Globe and Mail
. Retrieved
2009-11-13
.
- ^
Bellafante, Ginia (July 19, 2009).
"Sharing a Dance, History Afoot"
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
2009-11-14
.
- ^
"Mississippi School Holds First Interracial Prom"
.
National Public Radio
. June 11, 2008
. Retrieved
2009-11-13
.
- ^
Wilner, Norman (November 11?18, 2009).
"Prom Night In Mississippi"
.
NOW
. Retrieved
2009-11-13
.
- ^
Gow, Steve (November 12, 2009).
"Prom Night in Mississippi"
.
Metro News
. Archived from
the original
on December 8, 2009
. Retrieved
2009-11-13
.
- ^
"Two Canadian docs make international waves"
.
CBC
. 2009-04-30
. Retrieved
2009-11-17
.
External links
[
edit
]