Rabble rouser or activist? Opportunist or trailblazer? Carnival sideshow or civil rights leader? During his six-decade journey from pastoral prodigy to racial justice advocate, political candidate and elder media statesman, the Reverend Al Sharpton has been a polarizing figure. Inspiring both love and hate on local and national stages. LOUDMOUTH, which made its national premiere as the Closing Night film at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, chronicles his fight for social change from the streets of 1980s Brooklyn to 2020s Minneapolis and more. With access to more than 1200 hours of never-before-seen footage, we see Reverend Sharpton on the frontlines, in the media and in the corridors of power. The documentary paints an intimate and revealing portrait, including the good and bad, of a tireless warrior who has never ducked a fight in his mission to transform the status quo.
Often controversial, occasionally fallible, and always quotable; Sharpton has spent a lifetime serving as the voice of the voiceless in the face of America’s deafening complacency in the fight against racial injustice and the impact of structural racism on our nation.
LOUDMOUTH puts a spotlight on the veteran social justice titan. In past years, many saw Reverend Al Sharpton as a loud and flamboyant ambulance chaser. His national msnbc show, PoliticsNation, along with his high visibility surrounding the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Michael Brown and many more, have pushed the Reverend into the mainstream. With the advent of the cell phone camera came indisputable evidence of on-going police brutality, racial disparities in policing, and the demonization and criminalization of unarmed black males. In-your-face evidence on the news almost weekly, has opened America’s eye’s. And with this revelation, America has begun to listen to Reverend Al Sharpton. He has become the “go-to” spokesperson on all matters surrounding racial justice. Al Sharpton has gone mainstream.
”These continue to be challenging times,” says director Josh Alexander. “Not only because the world is still in the midst of a global pandemic with terrifying consequences, but also because of the profoundly disproportionate damage it has done to Black and Brown communities in the United States — that damage is a result of entrenched racial inequities. Add to that painful reality, a country convulsed by the horror of continued racial violence and police brutality. “
The topic and essence of the film is the contextualization of events like the recent criminal deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery as well as painful memories of other racially motivated murders like the 1986 killing of Michael Griffith by white youth in Howard Beach and the 1990 police killing of New Jersey teenager Phillip Pannell.
Reverend Al Sharpton’s life gives us a vehicle to explore these issues — because as a civil rights activist, spiritual leader and media story-teller, he lives in the heart of the battle over the narrative around racial justice issues.
LOUDMOUTH drops its audience into the center of the New York City Civil Rights movement as it unfolded, well before iPhones and social media. With access to 1200 hours of never-before-seen archival footage from the 80s, 90s and today, the doc is critical of the media’s role in helping perpetuate certain narratives especially around the Tawana Brawley case. The film is in many ways is an exploration of the battle over “story”; of how these events have been written and why. It also sheds light on the fact that much of what the media reported on at the time did not give a full voice to lived events on the ground.
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Even though Reverend Al Sharpton was a loud voice in this battle, LOUDMOUTH is not just about his voice. It’s about painting an accurate picture of the ecosystem that required such a loud voice. While Reverend Sharpton is another key figure in the movement which began with Medgar Evers, MLK, Jesse Jackson and the like; that’s not the full picture. It’s also the story of hidden racism that many didn’t want to believe existed in the super liberal Big Apple, and the loud voice required to hold a mirror up to it.
“Our hope is that this film is corrective to a selective and slanted history of Northern, urban racism in New York City as it was reported at the time, but more deeply that it challenges audiences to question their stories (internal and external) about who they are and who they deem they are not, who Sharpton is and who he is not…” said Alexander.
Executive Producers: John Legend, Ty Stiklorius, Austyn Biggers, Salman Al- Rashid, Sam Frohman, Aaron L. Gilbert, Brenda Gilbert, Josh Miller, Jason Cloth, Michael Cho, Tim Lee, Jim Butterworth, Brenda Robinson
Co-Executive Producers: Michael Y. Chow, Sue Turley, Peter Goring, Elizabeth Radshaw, Salma Alli, Jonathan Gray, Mimi Rode
Produced by: Daniel J. Chalfen, Mike Jackson, Kedar Massenburg
Director of Photography: Clemson Brown, Graham Willoughby
Edited by: Armando Croda
Directed, Written & Produced by: Josh Alexander
BRON Releasing/Salmira Productions/A Get Lifted Film Co./Group Effort Films/Massenburg Media Naked Edge Films production
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