CodeBlack Picks Up Shola Lynch's 'Free Angela;' Teaming w/ BET On Theatrical Release

Ahead of its Pan African Film Festival closing night screening, comes news via press release that Shola Lynch's Free Angela & All Political Prisoners, has been picked up by Codeblack Films for an April theatrical release.

An even more interesting part of this deal is that BET will be teaming up with CodeBlack to release the film in theaters, via CodeBlack's partnership with AMC.

An April 5th debut date is scheduled, for AMC locations in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., Oakland, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

Before then, PAFF attendees next month will have an opportunity to see the film, when it screens as the festival's closing night film on February 17, 2013, at 6pm, at Rave Cinemas. This will be the feature docs first public screening since its Toronto International Film Festival debut last Septmber.

I'd assume that BET's involvement here suggests that the network will likely premiere the film on broadcast TV.

Free Angela & All Political Prisoners is described as:

... a feature-length documentary about Angela Davis and the high stakes crime, political movement, and trial that catapults the 26 year-old newly appointed philosophy professor at the University of California at Los Angeles into a seventies revolutionary political icon. Nearly forty years later, and for the first time, Angela Davis speaks frankly about the actions that branded her as a terrorist and simultaneously spurred a worldwide political movement for her freedom.

I screened the film last fall, while it was at TIFF, and reviewed it (read that review HERE if you missed it). Lisa Harewood also interviewed director Lynch at TIFF last September for S&A; read that interview HERE.

This film was developed with the support of The Independent Television Service (ITVS) with funding provided by BET Networks, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), New York State Council on the Arts, Paul Newman Foundation, The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, Tribeca All Access and Angoa.

A trailer follows at the bottom of this post: