AFI Fest Sets Apple’s ‘The Banker’ World Premiere As Closing-Night Film

Erik Pedersen

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AFI Fest has set the world premiere of Apple’s The Banker, starring Anthony Mackie, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicholas Hoult and Nia Long, as its closing-night film on November 21 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Here’s the logline for director George Nolfi’s film: Based on a true story, The Banker centers on revolutionary businessmen Bernard Garrett (Mackie) and Joe Morris (Jackson), who devise an audacious and risky plan to take on the racist establishment of the 1960s by helping other African Americans pursue the American dream. Along with Garret’s wife Eunice (Long), they train a working class white man, Matt Steiner (Hoult), to pose as the rich and privileged face of their burgeoning real estate and banking empire – while Garrett and Morris pose as a janitor and a chauffeur. Their success ultimately draws the attention of the federal government, which threatens everything the four have built.

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Said Michael Lumpkin, Director of AFI Festivals, “The Banker joins a remarkable group of films being released this year that openly confront centuries of racism and injustice in our country, while celebrating the brave individuals whose activism has created real change.”

Niceole Levy, Nolfi, David Lewis Smith and Stan Younger wrote the script from a story by Smith, Younger and Brad Caleb Kane. The film is produced by Joe Viertel. Brad Feinstein produced under his Romulus Entertainment banner, along producers Nolfi, Nnamdi Asomugha, Jonathan Baker, David Lewis Smith and Mackie. The executive producers are Joseph F. Ingrassia, Jackson, Will Greenfield, David Gendron and Ali Jazayeri.

The Banker opens December 6 in theaters ahead of its debut on Apple TV+ in January.

AFI Fest is set for November 14-21 at multiple historic theaters in Los Angeles. Melina Matsoukas’s Queen & Slim will open the fest, and the full lineup and schedule will be unveiled later this month.

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