From The Bluest Eye to Song of Solomon and Beloved, Toni Morrison created over the course of her forty year career some of our greatest works of modern literature. And her life was often just as fascinating as the works she published.
Born into a working class Ohio family, the author became one of America’s most significant literary figures, taught at Princeton and won the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 2012, a few years before she died, Toni was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in recognition of her career and the importance of her work.
Now, the author’s life and work is the subject of a new documentary, the poster and trailer for which dropped today. Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am offers an artful, intimate look into her personal life, inspiration, activism and creative process. The film, which is to be released in the UK on 6 March over to coincide with International Women’s Day, explores race in America, history and the human condition through the prism of Toni’s literature.
As well as new and archive footage of the author herself, the documentary also includes an impressive array of interviews and discussions of her greatest works. Friends, fans and collaborators including Hilton Als, Angela Davis, Fran Lebowitz and Oprah Winfrey — who adapted Beloved for screen — pop up, discussing the impact Toni’s work has had on their lives and careers.
Directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, the elegant film includes original music by Kathryn Bostic, a specially created opening sequence by New York based artist Mickalene Thomas and evocative works by a number of contemporary African-American artists, from Kara Walker to Rashid Johnson.
Watch the full trailer here: