‘MLK/FBI’ Director Sam Pollard on the ‘Need to Have a Reckoning About Race’

A version of this story about “MLK/FBI” and Sam Pollard first appeared in the Documentaries issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.The documentary “MLK/FBI” delves into the years in the 1960s when the FBI engaged in a clandestine campaign to spy on and discredit civil rights activist and leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaAnton Chekhov operated under an overarching philosophy when it came to structuring his novels and plays.“If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off,” the Russian writer famously stated.Well, the characters in “The Killing of Two Lovers” may not be all that familiar with Chekhovian theories, but the film itself always threatens to obey similar dramatic principles.

Mónica Marie Zorrilla The re-start of the National Basketball Association’s season late last summer after the pandemic put it on what seemed like an interminable pause may have been lackluster in terms of numbers, but that was then, and this is 2021. NBA ratings aren’t in “big trouble” like one former sitting president may have led you to believe.Through this past Martin Luther King Jr.

Rihanna has revealed that she made a secret trip to Memphis, TN over the summer of 2020 to the exact spot where civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was tragically gunned down on April 4, 1968.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaBob Iger and Bob Chapek, the two men in charge of the Walt Disney Company, saw their pay packages shrink in 2020 after forgoing bonuses that could have added millions of dollars to their compensation.The belt-tightening came after Disney announced it would layoff 32,000 people, with most of those cuts coming in its parks, experiences and products segment.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaThe filmmakers behind “Tiger” and “Fed Up” are teaming with the producer of “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” on a new investigative documentary into food safety.Entitled “Poisoned,” the film will be directed by Stephanie Soechtig and executive produced by Jeff Benedict and produced by Ross Dinerstein’s Campfire. It will be based on Benedict’s book, “Poisoned: The True Story of the Deadly E.

Stevie Wonder on Monday posted an emotional open letter to Martin Luther King Jr. in which he said he was using the holiday to call on the Biden-Harris Administration to launch a truth commission on inequality in America.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and St Louis rapper Smino is celebrating with a new song and animated music video for "MLK Dr." The clip comes with creative direction from Brick & Smino and was animated by Oliver Fredericksen, and it visualizes some of Smino's lyrics in the jazzy, soulful song to humorous effect.

The co-hosts on The View came together on the January 18 episode of their daytime talk show to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. For her part, Meghan McCain not only shared what she had learned over the course of the last year, but expressed so much gratitude to her friend and co-host, Sunny Hostin. “On a very personal level, I have really been deeply grateful for the conversations we have had on this show…I particularly want to thank my co-host, Sunny.”

Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday. The song — with its jubilant “Happy birthday to ya!” chorus — has been sung at countless birthday celebrations in the 40 years since it was released as a single in 1981 after first appearing on Wonder’s 1980 album “Hotter Than July.”But the R&B legend gave perhaps the most important performance of the tribute tune at a Washington, DC rally he spearheaded, which was held on King’s birthday, Jan.

Editors Note: This post was written two years ago in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have helped out The Mission Continues.

If there are any milestones worth noting this week, it’s that the Focus Features thriller Promising Young Woman crossed the $3 million in its fourth week in theaters. This weekend the Emerald Fennell-directed pic starring Carey Mulligan played in 1,333 theaters and added an estimated $430K to its box office till this weekend and is on track to earn $518K for the four-day Martin Luther King Jr.

Morgan Freeman will commemorate Martin Luther King Jr Day tomorrow with a series of 12 videos that will begin playing hourly on Freeman’s Instagram page, at 8 AM Eastern time. Each video recalls Dr. King’s words, most of which have much to say about life in current  difficult times as they did when he said them back in the ‘60s.

Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.MOVIES— Regina King’s directorial debut “One Night in Miami” brings Muhammad Ali (Eli Goree), Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), and Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) gather into a Miami hotel in February 1964, celebrating Ali’s knockout of Sonny Liston.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaBryan Fogel’s “The Dissident” was too hot to handle.The documentary about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist and political activist who was allegedly killed in 2018 on the orders of the Saudi Royal Family, was one of the hottest films at last year’s Sundance.

The IFC Films documentary MLK/FBI from filmmaker Sam Pollard (Two Trains Runnin’, Eyes on the Prize) makes its debut in select theaters today as well as on demand. The release aligns with Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 18 and it is super relevant to America’s wild inequity and racist treatment of the Black community — specifically Black activists.

BOSTON -- A major memorial honoring Martin Luther King Jr.