It is often remarked that talent breeds talent. And so is the case with prolific American actor couple Denzel Washington – Pauletta Pearson, with respect to their youngest son and budding film director Malcolm Washington. Having already helmed the well-received short film ‘Benny Got Shot’, back in 2017, Washington is back at it again.
This time, with a more star-studded ensemble cast aboard his sophomore directorial project and debut feature project. Big names like Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Michael Potts, Erykah Badu, Skyler Aleece Smith, Danielle Deadwyler, and Corey Hawkins star in his rendition of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning play, ‘The Piano Lesson’.
The second feature film adaptation of the play has been developed for Netflix and will begin streaming exclusively on the platform from November 22. The recently released official poster for the title features a burning piano: a euphemism, perhaps, for the Black experience, in the immediate aftermath of the Depression.
The plot follows the Charles family, a Black family living in the post-Depression-era in 1936 Pittsburgh, as they wrestle with their ancestral legacy as well as the intergenerational trauma of slavery. These difficult conversations are brought about via a rousing debate about whether or not to sell the family’s most prized possession: their piano.
The title will begin streaming on Netflix following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival during the first week of September. Be sure to catch it then!