A Huey P. Newton Story

A Huey P. Newton Story 2001 is an American film adaptation directed by Spike Lee. The movie was created, written and performed, as a solo performance, by Roger Guenveur Smith at The Joseph Papp Public Theater. In this performance, Smith creates a representation of the activist Huey P. Newtons life and time as a person, a citizen and an activist. During the performance, images are shown upstage from activist movement era. The simple arrangement of Smith sitting in a chair stagecenter makes the audience focus on the dialogue of the performer. Smith captures the attention of the audience throughout the film by putting into play his solo performance skills. Smiths idea for the performance originated in 1989 and took root as a stage play in 1996. Smiths performance attempt to show a shy individual that Huey P. Newton believed himself to be. He did not consider himself a charismatic person, although he had made many contributions to his community. Smith shows Newton as a conservative individual who is disgusted by having microphones and cameras close to him.

The film is based for the most part on Huey P. Newtons life. Newton grew up in Oakland after his family moved there from Louisiana due to the military opportunities during World War II. Cofounder of the Black Panther Party, Newton served as Minister of Defense, and in effect was the BPPs leader, writing the Partys 10Point Platform and Program alongside cofounder Bobby Seale. Convicted of voluntary manslaughter of a police officer in September 1968, Newton spent the next twenty months in prison before being released after his conviction was quashed on a technicality. The BPP had transformed itself in this period, and Newton struggled to cope with the demands placed on him, a situation that was not helped by his increasing consumption of drugs and alcohol. During the 1970s Newton studied at the University of California Santa Cruz, where he obtained a PhD in the History of Consciousness program. His behavior became increasingly erratic during this period, as the BPP collapsed and his drug addiction took hold. On August 22, 1989, Newton was shot and killed in Oakland.The producers of the film created a project that went on to win various awards for their work. Both Smith and Lee brought to life the story of the activist and presented it on PBS. This movie is a production of BLACK STARZ and Luna Ray Films in collaboration with PBS and the African Heritage Network. Smiths performance is composed on a simple dark stage with a couple of screens in the back. The production incorporated a couple of cameras to capture different angles as well as different microphones so that scenes could be taken from various perspectives. The production that brought A Huey P. Newton Story presented the movie in San Francisco by KQED. The funding for the movie was possible thanks to BLACK STARZ, PBS, The National Black Programming Consortium, The African Heritage Network Frank Mercado Valdes, and the KQED Campaign for the Future. ........

Source: Wikipedia