American Violet was adapted from a true story about systemized discrimination in Hearne, Texas, back in 2000. It shows our society has not yet moved beyond racial and class discrimination – of the Deep South variety.
Director Tim Disney, Walt’s great-nephew, has created a simple but uplifting story about personal courage and social justice. This film, which runs June 19-25, is an interesting follow-up to Lemon Tree, Plimoth Cinema’s recent trip to Israel to see similar systemized discrimination.
Writer/producer Bill Haney was inspired to write this drama after hearing about Regina Kelly, an African-American single mother arrested with 27 others in a sweep through a housing project, and accused, on little or no evidence, of selling drugs. The judicial system was stacked against Kelly and the effects were designed to get defendants to plead guilty in order to get probation – in the shadow of the DA’s threat of a very long incarceration. The state’s case against Kelly was based on an ex-con drug-user informant with metal illness. Roberts defiantly refused to plead to a crime she did not commit and, in so doing, she put at risk her job, her dignity, her savings and custody of her children. Ultimately, the ACLU stepped in to defend Kelly and sue the DA for racial profiling and malicious prosecution.
Texas has the highest incarceration rate in a country that boasts the highest rate in the world. The Texas system systematically disenfranchised thousands of black voters and this circumstantially took place during the 2000 election when President Bush was elected on a few hanging chads.
Yes, the film is agenda driven and unabashedly political in its tone, but Haney says the film matters because it points out “the extraordinary hideous effects of the war on drugs. How it plays off a racism that is concealed, but hasn’t gone away.” The country, Haney says, is now fighting a second war without end – the war against drugs.
Disney, gives credit to Regina Kelly (named Dee Roberts in the film), saying “Change begins with individuals…and change is possible when individuals make choices and stand behind them.”
The film is filled with powerful performances and a powerful message. As Dee Roberts (the Regina character), recent Julliard graduate Nicole Beharie delivers a strong performance and received critical raves for her first lead role. She is joined by veteran actors Will Patton (the mechanic in Wendy & Lucy), Tim Blake Nelson (Delmar in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou!), Alfre Woodard (multiple Emmy and Golden Globe awards), Charles S. Dutton (with his own history with the law), Xzibit (rapper and actor) and Michael O’Keefe (the State Trooper in Frozen River).
