John Lewis: Good Trouble

Name: John Lewis: Good Trouble
Director: Dawn Porter
Released: 2020

Dawn Porter 2020

An intimate account of legendary U.S. Representative John Lewis’ life, legacy and more than 60 years of extraordinary activism. After Lewis petitioned Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to help integrate a segregated school in his hometown of Troy, Alabama, King sent “the boy from Troy” a round trip bus ticket to meet with him. From that meeting onward, Lewis became one of King’s closest allies. He organized Freedom Rides that left him bloodied or jailed, and stood at the front lines in the historic marches on Washington and Selma. He never lost the spirit of the “boy from Troy” and called on his fellow Americans to get into “good trouble” until his passing on July 17, 2020.

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Running Time:

98 min.

Spoken Languages:

English

Subtitles:

English

Directors:

Dawn Porter

Producers:

Laura Michalchyshyn

Cinematographers:

Tony Hardmon, Keith Walker, Stefan Wiesen

Editors:

Jessica Congdon

Production Companies:

Magnolia Pictures, Participant

Press

TIME

"John Lewis: Good Trouble shows us an activist and an effective politician—as well as a powerful and passionate public speaker—who has devoted his life to public service, often putting himself at risk to defend basic human rights."

Stephanie Zacharek
New York Times

"The civil rights leader and longtime Georgia congressman John Lewis surely requires no introduction, but “John Lewis: Good Trouble,” a documentary from Dawn Porter, provides a solid one anyway, striking a good balance between revisiting Lewis’s most famous work as an activist and chronicling his life today."

Ben Kenigsberg
Associated Press

"Perhaps the most striking aspect of the film is how prophetic it is."

Lindsey Bahr
Variety

"Porter manages to sketch a complete picture of the Alabama-born Lewis as a principled man, activist and politician who continues to pull his weight on numerous contemporary concerns such as gun violence, fair housing and environmental protection."

Tomris Laffley

Festival Participation

Tribeca Film Festival - 2020
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival - 2020
Hamptons Doc Fest - 2020
Oxford Film Festival - 2020

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