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blackfilm.com's BLACK AUGUST DVD Contest

BLACK AUGUST

Cast: Gary Dourdan, Vonetta McGee, Leith M. Burke, Tina Marie Murray, Elisabeth Nunziato
Directors: Samm Styles, TCinque Sampson
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese
Number of discs: 1
Rating: UNRATED
Studio: WARNER HOME VIDEO
DVD Release Date: February 12, 2008
Run Time: 116 minutes
Synopsis:
Gary Dourdan (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) is electrifying as George Jackson, icon of the revolutionary 1960s prisoners’ rights movement and philosophical inspiration for the Black Panthers movement. Black August also stars Darren Bridgett as David Dryer, the idealistic young editor who helped shape Jackson’s letters into a classic book, Ezra Stanley as Jackson’s teenaged brother Jonathan and Tina Marie Murray as legendary political activist Angela Davis.

During his eleven years in prison for a petty theft, Jackson helped found the Black Guerrilla Family, a paramilitary movement that defended the rights of black prisoners. In a series of passionate and poetic letters, he expresses both his rage at the dehumanizing conditions in which is force to live and the revolutionary political philosophy he developed studying Marx, Mao and other thinkers. His letters were collected and published in the volume Soledad Brother, which made him both a best-selling author and a lightening rod for controversy.

In Black August, Jackson and Dryer work below the prison radar to edit a book based on his letters. Charged with killing a white prison guard in retaliation for the deaths of four black inmates, Jackson has become a cause célèbre in radical circles where it is believed that the authorities are framing him because of his political activities. In one of the film’s most chilling moments, Jackson’s 17-year-old brother Jonathan commands the attention of the world with an ill-fated attempt to free George and the two other prisoners known as the “Soledad Brothers.” Two weeks later, George Jackson becomes the flashpoint for the bloodiest day in the history of San Quentin.

Black August traces Jackson’s spiritual journey and violent fate, a subject matter still so contentious that a law enforcement officer tried to block the use of the Marin County Hall of Justice to recreate a pivotal scene for the film.

Sampson brings a powerful authenticity to this explosive story, having himself spent 22 years in prison—including a stint at San Quentin in a cell neighboring the one Jackson occupied years earlier. After his release, Sampson says he was motivated to turn his prison writings about Jackson into a movie in order to bring its subject to a wider audience.

“People have heard about George Jackson and Angela Davis, but they don’t know much about them or their work,” says Sampson. “George Jackson was a man who believed that human life is meaningless if it is not accompanied by the power to determine its quality. And he knew those in control never concede anything unless it is demanded of them.”

All you have to do is enter your information below starting February 4th thru February 12th. We'll draw names randomly on February13th. 8 Winners will be notified by E-mail. Only one entry per e-mail address will be accepted, and multiple entrants may be disqualified. Employees, agents, consultants and other advisors of blackfilm.com, Inc. are not eligible to participate in this contest. No one under 13 is eligible. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. GOOD LUCK!!

To enter, please email your Name, Address & Email Address to blackaugustdvd@blackfilm.com and write in "Black August DVD" in the subject line. All entrants MUST be residents of the United States. blackfilm.com respects the privacy of its readers. No information submitted in this contest will be given, copied, transferred, or sold to any third parties

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