The cast and crew of The Secret Life Of Bees talked about making a movie about black American history just as black American history is being made in America.
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In the film, African-American women operate an independent honey growering operation while fighting for their civil rights. Its high-powered cast, including Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson (pictured) and Alicia Keys, felt like they were in two worlds as they shot the film in North Carolina, while Barack Obama was winning the state primary there.
Nate Parker made the parallel between Obama’s campaign to getting a new generation to register to vote with the civil rights movement. “The People who were fighting that fight were actually quite young. People forget that.”
Dakota Fanning – not longer looking like a child actor – had personal connections to the story. Like her character, her mother was a white girl brought up by a black woman.
It was a soulful session about serious stuff but Latifah was a real leavener, talking about the difference between the music and film biz – the money. “I do feel, though that you have a little more control over your creativity when you make music. You’re doing your own work. In film, you often step into someone else’s story.”
Though the content was deep at this session, you couldn’t help but notice the awesome array of shoeware on the stage. I’ll be talking to our fashion guy Andrew Sardone to find out about Latifah’s purple heels and the zip-up stilleto boots worn by director Gina Prince-Bythewood – were awesome.
From the press conference:
Alice Keys on releasing the film as Obama’a running
Dakota Fanning on Obama winning the primary in the state where they were shooting
Queen Latifah on the difference between the film and music business
