The Lena Baker Story

The Lena Baker Story
The Lena Baker Story
	Theatrical release poster, photography by Guy R. Gane
Directed by	Ralph Wilcox
Written by	Ralph Wilcox
Based on	Hope & Redemption; by Lela Bond Phillips
Produced by	Dennis Johnson; Ralph Wilcox
Starring	Tichina Arnold; Peter Coyote
Distributed by	American World Pictures
Release date	April 10, 2008;
Running time	106 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Hope & Redemption: The Lena Baker Story is a 2008 historical film. It is an adaptation of the book by Lela Bond Phillips, which chronicles the life and death of Lena Baker, an African-American woman in Georgia who was convicted in 1945 of capital murder and was the only woman to be executed by electric chair. She was posthumously pardoned by the state in 2005. The film was written for the screen and directed by Ralph Wilcox and stars Tichina Arnold and Peter Coyote.

As the opening night premiere film for the 2008 Atlanta Film Festival, it sold out. The film was also screened at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2008.^[1]

Plot

The film chronicles the life of Lena Baker, born to a sharecropper family, who later worked as a maid in a small county town to support her three children. Convicted in 1945 of capital murder by an all-white, male jury, Baker was the only woman in Georgia to be executed by the electric chair. Baker acted in self-defense in the fatal shooting of her employer, Ernest Knight, during a struggle. He was an abusive drunk who had forced the 44-year-old woman into a sexual relationship and sometimes held her at his place against her will. She was posthumously pardoned in 2005.

Cast

Tichina Arnold as Lena Baker
- Kaya Camp as Young Lena Baker
Peter Coyote as Ernest Knight
Michael Rooker as Randolph County Sheriff
Beverly Todd as Lena's Mother
Randy McDowell as Lyle Jacobs
Tom Huff as Ken Thomas
L. Warren Young as Milton
Ron Clinton Smith
Dwayne Boyd
Santana Shelton as Nettie
Kenny Cook as Barry Arthur
Kajuan Wilson as Earl Baker

References

^ Longino, Bob (April 11, 2008). "'Lena Baker' opens Atlanta fest, will soon hit Cannes Market". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on June 3, 2009. Retrieved November 23, 2009.

External links

Official website
The Lena Baker Story at IMDb
The Lena Baker Story at Rotten Tomatoes
Ralph Wilcox, "Films Have Power to Be the Voice of Change", Moving Pictures Magazine

[1] Longino, Bob (April 11, 2008). "'Lena Baker' opens Atlanta fest, will soon hit Cannes Market". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on June 3, 2009. Retrieved November 23, 2009.

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