Actor Forest Whitaker has signed on to executive produce a movie about American civil rights activist Angela Davis.
Actor Forest Whitaker has signed on to executive produce a movie about American civil rights activist Angela Davis.
Bosses at Lionsgate's Codeblack acquired the rights to "Angela Davis: An Autobiography" last year and hired Nina Yang Bongiovi to produce the project. Whitaker worked with Bongiovi on Fruitvale Station, which he also produced.
According to Variety, Davis will also serve as an executive producer on the film, alongside her niece Eisa Davis.
This isn't the first Angela Davis project from executives at Codeblack - in 2012, they released documentary "Free Angela and All Political Prisoners", which centred on her conspiracy, kidnapping and murder trial.
In 1970, Davis was charged with aggravated kidnapping and first degree murder after 17-year-old Jonathan Jackson gained control of a Marin County, California courtroom.
Jackson took Judge Harold Haley, a prosecutor, and three female jurors as hostages and Haley was subsequently killed while the teenager was trying to escape.
It was later discovered the guns used in the attack were registered to Davis and California law stated she could be charged despite not being directly involved.
She was found not guilty of the charges in 1972 and went on to become a professor at several US colleges including San Francisco State University, Rutgers University in New Jersey, and Syracuse University in New York.
Meanwhile, Whitaker has been active behind the camera for several years and has produced other documentaries about real-life figures and societal issues including "Kassim the Dream", "We Are One", "Rising from the Ashes", "Brick City", and "Serving Life."
He has also directed several movies including "Waiting to Exhale", "Hope Floats," and "First Daughter."
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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