Magnolia Plans Free Tulsa Screening of John Lewis Doc to Combat Trump Rally

Tyler Hersko
·3 min read

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Magnolia Pictures’ upcoming John Lewis documentary will premiere on Juneteenth, with the intent of offering counter-programming to President Donald Trump’s upcoming political rally on Saturday.

Variety reported that the “John Lewis: Good Trouble” documentary will be screened for free at Circle Cinema, a nonprofit organization that operates out of a theater in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Juneteenth. Juneteenth, which takes place Friday, is a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.

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“Our city is searching for ideas and ways to do peaceful protest of Trump,” Chuck Foxen, film programmer at Circle Cinema, told Variety. “This feels like a powerful way to celebrate the spirit and meaning of Juneteenth.”

Trump was originally scheduled to host a political rally in Tulsa on Juneteenth but rescheduled the event for the following day due to widespread criticism regarding the rally’s timing. Tulsa was home to one of the worst incidents of racial violence in the nation’s history, where hundreds of Black Americans were attacked by white mobs that destroyed numerous Black businesses and homes.

Foxen told Variety that he has reached out to local community leaders and activists about speaking as part of the screening event.

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

Using interviews and rare archival footage, “John Lewis: Good Trouble” chronicles Lewis’ 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.

Magnolia Pictures and Participant will release “John Lewis: Good Trouble” in theaters and on-demand July 3. The trailer for the Dawn Porter-directed documentary was released in May and shines a light on Lewis’ political career and his championing of social justice.

“We think John Lewis’ story is a crucial story to share with Tulsa audiences,” Neal Block, Magnolia’s head of marketing and distribution, told Variety. “Rep. Lewis has been at it for six decades, fighting for equality, and I’m sure he wishes he didn’t have to fight as hard as he still does. His work is sadly, depressingly still relevant at a time when this country is confronting issues of systemic racism.”

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