Denzel Washington walks the red carpet at Wiley College's historical event 12.13.07 at 6pm
United States of America (Press Release) December 11, 2007 --
Wiley College Celebrates
“THE GREAT DEBATERS”
With Academy Award® Denzel Washington and Cast
Marshall, Texas (Monday December 10, 2007) -- On Thursday evening December 13, invited guests of Wiley College will have the opportunity to attend a special advance screening of The Great Debaters at the Marshall Theatre. In addition, Academy Award® winner Denzel Washington director/actor as well as fellow actors Jurnee Smollet, Nate Parker, and Denzel Whitaker will be in attendance.
THE GREAT DEBATERS is inspired by the remarkable story of Wiley College’s winning debate team of the early 1930s. Set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow South, THE GREAT DEBATERS chronicles the journey of the Wiley College debate team—coached by the brilliant and passionate professor Melvin B. Tolson (Denzel Washington). It was Tolson’s recognition that the power of knowledge is the greatest advantage of all, which brought these students from underdogs to victors in a time when more than the odds were against them.
Professor Tolson carefully chooses his team not only because they are the best Wiley College has to offer but because they carry within them the spark of a new generation. He sets out to instill in them confidence and a sense of responsibility for more than just their own lives. At the same time, he knows he must protect them from his own covert activities as an organizer of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union.
Tolson’s most eager student is 14 year-old prodigy James Farmer Jr. (Denzel Whitaker) who endures the pressure of the team in addition to the towering presence of his father James Sr., PhD (Forest Whitaker), a renowned scholar and towering presence. It is James Jr. who grows up quickly by witnessing the horrific acts of prejudice, feeling the pangs of love and becoming the teacher as his father learns that action and assertion must be practiced in order for knowledge to become power.
This story was inspired by the passion, dedication and teachings of Melvin B. Tolson. THE GREAT DEBATERS is a Weinstein Company presentation of a Harpo Films production being distributed in US theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer Studios Inc. (MGM)
The Weinstein Company and Harpo Films present THE GREAT DEBATERS, which MGM will release in theaters on December 25, 2007.
###
For More information regarding this film and/or event:
Lavonia Perryman Fairfax
Wiley College Media Hotline
903-927-3201
or
Press materials for THE GREAT DEBATERS go to:
www.twcpublicity.com
Username: Weinstein
Password: twcdim
Information on Wiley College go to:
www.wileyc.edu
“THE GREAT DEBATERS”
With Academy Award® Denzel Washington and Cast
Marshall, Texas (Monday December 10, 2007) -- On Thursday evening December 13, invited guests of Wiley College will have the opportunity to attend a special advance screening of The Great Debaters at the Marshall Theatre. In addition, Academy Award® winner Denzel Washington director/actor as well as fellow actors Jurnee Smollet, Nate Parker, and Denzel Whitaker will be in attendance.
THE GREAT DEBATERS is inspired by the remarkable story of Wiley College’s winning debate team of the early 1930s. Set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow South, THE GREAT DEBATERS chronicles the journey of the Wiley College debate team—coached by the brilliant and passionate professor Melvin B. Tolson (Denzel Washington). It was Tolson’s recognition that the power of knowledge is the greatest advantage of all, which brought these students from underdogs to victors in a time when more than the odds were against them.
Professor Tolson carefully chooses his team not only because they are the best Wiley College has to offer but because they carry within them the spark of a new generation. He sets out to instill in them confidence and a sense of responsibility for more than just their own lives. At the same time, he knows he must protect them from his own covert activities as an organizer of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union.
Tolson’s most eager student is 14 year-old prodigy James Farmer Jr. (Denzel Whitaker) who endures the pressure of the team in addition to the towering presence of his father James Sr., PhD (Forest Whitaker), a renowned scholar and towering presence. It is James Jr. who grows up quickly by witnessing the horrific acts of prejudice, feeling the pangs of love and becoming the teacher as his father learns that action and assertion must be practiced in order for knowledge to become power.
This story was inspired by the passion, dedication and teachings of Melvin B. Tolson. THE GREAT DEBATERS is a Weinstein Company presentation of a Harpo Films production being distributed in US theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer Studios Inc. (MGM)
The Weinstein Company and Harpo Films present THE GREAT DEBATERS, which MGM will release in theaters on December 25, 2007.
###
For More information regarding this film and/or event:
Lavonia Perryman Fairfax
Wiley College Media Hotline
903-927-3201
or
Press materials for THE GREAT DEBATERS go to:
www.twcpublicity.com
Username: Weinstein
Password: twcdim
Information on Wiley College go to:
www.wileyc.edu
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