Age Group:
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Program Description
Event Details
In honor of Juneteenth, join TOUR of St Luke’s Parish for a special screening of “Amistad." Following the screening, Chris Menapace, Director of Education of Discovering Amistad, will be fielding questions. The organization purchased the Amistad, Connecticut's flagship and a replica of the original schooner, in November 2015.
About the Film
“In the summer of 1839, on a stormy night off the coast of Cuba, 53 Africans held captive in the cramped cargo holds of the Spanish slave ship, La Amistad, break free of their shackles. Led by Cinque (Djimon Hounsou), they arm themselves, take control of the ship and reclaim their freedom. They have one goal: to return to Africa.
Without the navigational skills to guide them home, the Africans are forced to rely on the two surviving members of the crew. But they are tricked. After two months on a ragged course up the Eastern seaboard, the Amistad is captured by an American naval ship off the coast of Long Island, and the Africans are charged with murder and piracy.”– Amblin
Director: Steven Spielberg
Year: 1997
Starring: Djimon Hounsou as Sengbe Pieh / Joseph Cinqué, Matthew McConaughey as Roger Sherman Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins as John Quincy Adams, Morgan Freeman as Theodore Joadson, Nigel Hawthorne as President Martin Van Buren, David Paymer as Secretary of State John Forsyth, Pete Postlethwaite as William S. Holabird, Stellan Skarsgård as Lewis Tappan, Razaaq Adoti as Yamba, Abu Bakaar Fofanah as Fala, and Anna Paquin as Queen Isabella II of Spain.
This movie is 2 hours and 35 minutes and is rated R (for some scenes of strong brutal violence and some related nudity).
About Chris Menapace
Chris Menapace is the Director of Education of Discovering Amistad. He develops and implements several types of virtual and in-person programming for both children and adults. He has always been interested in history that has a connection to social justice, and the Amistad story’s themes of dehumanization and resistance are as relevant today as they were in the nineteenth century. He loves helping students to comprehend how the history they are learning has directly impacted their world and what they hear in the news, and to understand the importance of being involved in their communities in pursuit of a better future.