Dr. Bernice A. King joined the producing team of Oscar-Qualifying, Best Live Action Short Film contender THE REBEL GIRLS last weekend at an FYC Screening at Smart Post Sound in Santa Monica, CA. The film is written and directed by Felicia D Henderson and produced by Henderson and Katrina Kudlick. Liesl Wilke, Caroline Williams, and Mara Brock Akil, providing an all-female executive producing team.
During the Q&A portion of the evening, moderated by Emmy-winner and Tony Award nominee Sheryl Lee Ralph, Dr. King spoke about her experience being born into the Civil Rights Movement and drew stark comparisons between the subject matter of the film and the intersection between the upcoming MLK Jr. Holiday and the country’s inauguration day, which falls on the historic holiday in 2025.
“While I wanted the film to feel contemporary, I also wanted to get the historical perspective right,” said Henderson. “I kept thinking about those girls being wrongly imprisoned at the exact same time that Dr. King was delivering his famous I Have A Dream speech. What were those girls’ dreams? Eventually, I said to myself, you have to approach Bernice King. She can speak to multiple sides of this history,” Henderson concluded.
Inspired by true events, THE REBEL GIRLS is the never-before-told story of the girl warriors who were on the front line of the 1960s fight for Civil Rights. Despite being abducted from local jails and illegally imprisoned for 60 days, they emerged victorious through sisterhood and magical fantasies.
Dr. King mentioned that at one point, over a decade ago, she had obtained the rights to tell this story but could not quite pull it together. “In a full circle moment, Felicia calls and asks me to come aboard a project she’s writing and directing, and it’s the same project I wanted to do all those years ago. I was very impressed with the way she wanted to tell a Civil Rights story in a brand new way. I have always wanted to tell the story of these girls, and their perseverance and courage,” said Dr. King.
“I said yes for two reasons,” added Mara Brock Akil about her decision to join the producing team. “One, I was honored to stand by my sister who was resolute in telling this forgotten and needed story. Two, I wanted us to see ourselves in these girls. I definitely see myself in their humor, strength, resiliency and dreams.”
The short film (22 minutes) won 7 of the 9 festivals in which it screened, including Best Actress, Best Short Film, and Best of the Festival at the Oscar-qualifying BronzeLens Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize at the Orlando International Film Festival, Best Short Film at Oscar-qualifying Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, Pulling Focus Film Festival, Orlando Urban Film Festival, and the Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival. It also won the Best Episodic Award at Cinequest Film Festival, was an Official Selection at HollyShorts Film Festival and Indy Shorts Film Festival, was one of five finalists for the HBO/ABFF Shorts Awards, and was nominated for a Humanitas Award.
Dr. King is a global thought leader, strategist, solutionist, orator, peace advocate, and CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center For Nonviolent Social Change (The King Center), which was founded by her mother as the official living memorial to the life, work, and legacy of her father. In this position, Bernice continues to advance her parents’ legacy of nonviolent social change through policy, advocacy, research, as well as education & training through the Kingian philosophy of nonviolence, which she rebranded Nonviolence365™️(NV365).
In June 1963, on a hot and muggy day in Americus, GA, Civil Rights activists, including 500 children, marched to the Martin Theater to sit on the main floor, instead of the mandatory Colored balcony. Many of the children were arrested and thrown into local jails. Then, dozens of the girls were abducted in the middle of the night and taken to an undisclosed location – a Civil War-era stockade, in Leesburg, GA, originally built to house captured Union soldiers.
For nearly sixty days, the girls were held captive in the stockade without ever being charged with a crime. Despite being fed half-raw meat, sleeping on a concrete floor, drinking rust-filled water, and their lives being threatened, the girls survived! With the gift of creative and magical thinking, they disappeared into a fantasy world to preserve their spirits and fight another day.
The Rebel Girls stars Nika King as Ella Mae Brown, Kyanna Simone as Bertha, Honey Robinson as Myrna, and Nia Sondaya as Lulu. Josephine Lawrence stars as Octavia, Maxcianna Saintilus plays Carol, Avynn Crowder-Jones plays Beretta (“Bee”), and Asia Holiday plays Gussie Lee.
Felicia D Henderson is an acclaimed writer, producer, and director whose illustrious career includes iconic television series such as Emmy-nominated Soul Food, the first multi-year hit drama series featuring an African American cast, Gossip Girl, Fringe, Empire, The Punisher, and First Kill.. Known for her ability to tell authentic, poignant stories, Henderson continues to captivate audiences with her groundbreaking work across television and film.
About Post Author
