Julie Dash To Create A Film On The Early Activism Of Rosa Parks

Photo via: Library of Congress, courtesy of Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development

Invisible Pictures has tapped award-winning filmmaker Julie Dash to direct a film on the early activism of Rosa Parks before her historic moment on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955.

On December 1st of that year, Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger. Her brave act of civil disobedience sparked the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, where African Americans refused to ride Alabama city buses for 381 days. The boycott went on to become one of the nation’s largest and most successful demonstrations.

"A decade before her iconic moment on the Montgomery bus, Rosa Parks was investigating the brutal rape of Recy Taylor and seeking justice on her behalf," Shadow and Act reports Invisible Pictures saying. "This story of how the incredible bravery and collective action of Black Women sparked The Civil Rights movement will be brought to the big screen." 

The film, which will be based on the book "At the Dark End of the Street" by Danielle McGuire, will highlight Parks' efforts to seek justice for 24-year-old Taylor who was gang-raped by six white men in Alabama in 1944. The film will be produced by Audrey Rosenberg, Jess Jacobs, and Gary Riotto, and Rachel Watanabe-Batton.

Photo credit: John Nowak/TCM

Dash, who is known as the creator of the 1991 film "Daughter of the Dust," is the first African American woman to have a full-length film with a general theatrical release in the United States.

Aside from recently being tapped by Ava DuVernay to direct episodes of "Queen Sugar," Dash is the perfect creative to be behind the upcoming film as she was also the director of the 2002 "The Rosa Parks Story" television movie that came on CBS.

"I jumped at the opportunity to dive head first back into the Rosa Parks Story," Dash told Deadline. “Doing the CBS movie, I realized that there was so much more to her life, legacy, and her activism that we didn’t have time in one (movie)."

The announcement of the film also aligns with the upcoming release of "The Rape of Recy Taylor" documentary that will premiere at the New York Film Festival in October.

According to Deadline, production on the film is set to start in early 2018.