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[Trailer] ‘John Lewis: Good Trouble’ Documentary Premiere Date Announced

Phyllis Coley @phyllis_coley
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Congressman John Lewis (photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)

Congressman John Lewis has become one of the most recognizable faces in the United States’ civil rights movement, and the new documentary “John Lewis: Good Trouble” will examine the life and career of the longtime activist and public servant. The film will be released theatrically and available via home video by Magnolia Pictures and Participant, beginning July 3. (see trailer below)

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Dawn Porter

Directed by Dawn Porter, the film follows the Georgia Democrat’s life through interviews and rare archival footage. Porter’s present-day interviews with Lewis, now 80 years old, cover his upbringing, his first ventures into activism, and his relationship with Dr. Martin Luther King.

LewisThe filmmakers also spoke with notable figures that include bold Congressional newcomers like Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Ilhan Omar (D-MN); Civil Rights Movement giants such as Congressmen James Clyburn (D-SC) and the late Elijah Cummings (D-MD) (to whom the film is dedicated), as well as 2018 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams of Georgia, former Stacey Abrams, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, to name just a few.

Here’s the film’s synopsis, per distributor Magnolia Pictures:

Using interviews and rare archival footage, “John Lewis: Good Trouble” chronicles Lewis’s 60-plus years of social activism and legislative action on civil rights, voting rights, gun control, health-care reform, and immigration. Using present-day interviews with Lewis, now 80 years old, Porter explores his childhood experiences, his inspiring family, and his fateful meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957. In addition to her interviews with Lewis and his family, Porter’s primarily cinéma verité film also includes interviews with political leaders, Congressional colleagues, and other people who figure prominently in his life.