*A film about the shooting at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church is opening in theaters for just two days this week to commemorate the anniversary.
“Emanuel” will screen in theaters TODAY, June 17 and Wednesday, 19 only. It tells the story of what happened when 21-year-old Dylann Roof opened fire on a group of African American church parishioners on June 17, 2015. (Click here for locations and tickets.)
The film is a documentary that “weaves the history of race relations in Charleston, the significance and impact of Mother Emanuel Church, and the hope that somehow emerges in the aftermath,” according to a description by Fathom Events.
The film is executive produced by Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis and Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry.
BILL COSBY’S FATHER’S DAY POST INSISTING HE’S ‘AMERICA’S DAD’ DIDN’T GO OVER TOO WELL
As People reports, the murders at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, also known as Mother Emanuel, focused the attention of the country. President Barack Obama broke into the opening refrain of “Amazing Grace” on live television during his eulogy for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a church pastor and state senator who was among the victims.
“For those who forgave at the very beginning, I admire them,” says church member Melvin Graham Jr., in an exclusive clip from the documentary, above. “God truly worked a work in them. Truly. I’m a work in progress.”
Waltrina Middleton, whose cousin the Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor was killed, says in the film:
“We never got to the truth-telling. We never got to the place where we talked about ‘Why.’ Why did this man come into this church and felt empowered to claim all these lives? We never talked about the reality of racism in this city, in this community, in this country, and what do I say to DePayne’s four daughters? What do I say to them when the headlines say ‘Forgive,’ and I’m trying to explain and reconcile that their mother was shot to death in the basement of this church?”
Again, click here for locations and tickets.
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