MLK/FBI - Misplaced Pages

2020 American film

MLK/FBI
Film poster
Directed by	Sam Pollard
Written by	Benjamin Hedin Laura Tomaselli
Produced by	Benjamin Hedin
Cinematography	Robert Chappell
Edited by	Laura Tomaselli
Music by	Gerald Clayton
Production companies	Field of Vision Tradecraft Films Play/Action Pictures
Distributed by	IFC Films
Release dates	September 15, 2020 (2020-09-15) (TIFF) January 15, 2021 (2021-01-15) (United States)
Running time	104 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$45,200

MLK/FBI is a 2020 American documentary film directed by Sam Pollard (known for co-directing the 1987 Oscar-nominated Eyes on the Prize), from a screenplay by Benjamin Hedin and Laura Tomaselli. It follows Martin Luther King Jr. as he is investigated and harassed by J. Edgar Hoover's Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Synopsis

The film explores the investigation and harassment of Martin Luther King Jr. by J. Edgar Hoover and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, through newly declassified documents. Interviews from Beverly Gage, David J. Garrow, Andrew Young, Donna Murch, James Comey, Clarence Jones, Charles Knox and Marc Perrusquia also appear in the film - the interviews are presented largely as voiceover; some of the interviewees briefly appear on camera at the end of the film.

Much of the documentary utilizes archival footage of MLK between 1955 and 1968, the years of his work as a civil rights activist. It is largely chronological, showing a young MLK from 1963 until 1968 when he was assassinated. No new information is revealed about his assassination. The last sequence makes the statement that not all FBI documents have been declassified, and that the whole record will be declassified and made available to the public in 2027.

The documentary covers the attempts by Hoover and the FBI to discredit King by collecting recordings and images of his private sexual life with women other than his wife. This is to denigrate his status within the civil rights movement for black people in the United States, which was gaining momentum. There is a stark contrast between the thoroughly white complexion of the FBI and the many crowds of black people assembled around MLK.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. It screened at the 2020 New York Film Festival and was scheduled to be one of the closing night films at the San Diego International Film Festival in October.

IFC Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film and set a release date for January 15, 2021.

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 99% based on 124 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "MLK/FBI presents a sobering overview of the American intelligence community's efforts to discredit and destroy a leader of the civil rights movement." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Accolades

MLK/FBI won the Best Documentary Award at the San Diego International Film Festival in October 2020.

References

"MLK/FBI". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
"MLK/FBI (2021)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
"MLK/FBI (2021)". The Numbers. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
Documentary Exposes How The FBI Tried To Destroy MLK With Wiretaps, Blackmail : NPR
Roger Ebert
Wiseman, Andreas (July 30, 2020). "Toronto Sets 2020 Lineup: Werner Herzog, Regina King, Mira Nair, Francois Ozon, Naomi Kawase Titles Join Hybrid Edition". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
"MLK/FBI". New York Film Festival. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
"The Re-Imagined 2020 San Diego International Film Festival". San Diego Magazine. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 15, 2020). "IFC Acquires North America On 'MLK/FBI' Docu About Harassment Of Civil Rights Icon By FBI – Toronto". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
"MLK/FBI (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
"MLK/FBI Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
"2020 Filmmaker Awards | San Diego International Film Festival". 2020-10-21. Archived from the original on 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2020-10-23.

External links

Martin Luther King Jr.

Speeches, writings, movements, and protests

Speeches	"Give Us the Ballot" (1957) "I Have a Dream" (1963) "How Long, Not Long" (1965) "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" (1967) "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (1968)
Writings	Stride Toward Freedom (1958) "What Is Man?" (1959) "Second Emancipation Proclamation" Strength to Love (1963) "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (1963) Why We Can't Wait (1964) Conscience for Change (1967) Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
Movements and protests	Montgomery bus boycott (1955–1956) Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom (1957) Albany Movement (1961–1962) Birmingham campaign (1963) March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (1963) St. Augustine movement (1963–1964) Selma to Montgomery marches (1965) Chicago Freedom Movement (1966) Mississippi March Against Fear (1966) Anti-Vietnam War movement (1967) Memphis sanitation strike (1968) Poor People's Campaign (1968)

People

Family

Coretta Scott King (wife)
Yolanda King (daughter)
Martin Luther King III (son)
Dexter King (son)
Bernice King (daughter)
Martin Luther King Sr. (father)
Alberta Williams King (mother)
Christine King Farris (sister)
A. D. King (brother)
James Albert King (grandfather)
Alveda King (niece)

Other
leaders

Ralph Abernathy (mentor, colleague)
Ella Baker (colleague)
James Bevel (strategist / colleague)
Dorothy Cotton (colleague)
Jesse Jackson (protégé)
Bernard Lafayette (colleague)
James Lawson (colleague)
John Lewis (colleague)
Joseph Lowery (colleague)
Benjamin Mays (mentor)
Diane Nash (colleague)
James Orange (colleague)
Bayard Rustin (advisor)
Fred Shuttlesworth (colleague)
C. T. Vivian (colleague)
Wyatt Walker (colleague)
Hosea Williams (colleague)
Andrew Young (colleague)

Assassination
Lorraine Motel (now National Civil Rights Museum) Riots Funeral James Earl Ray Jack Kershaw U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) Martin Luther King Jr. Records Collection Act Loyd Jowers Trial Conspiracy theories

Media

Film	King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970 documentary) Our Friend, Martin (1999 animated) Boycott (2001 film) The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306 (2008 documentary) Selma (2014 film) All the Way (2016 film) King in the Wilderness (2018 documentary) MLK/FBI (2020 documentary) Rustin (2023 film)
Television	King (1978 miniseries) "The First Store" (The Jeffersons, 1980) "Great X-Pectations" (A Different World, 1993) "The Promised Land" (New York Undercover, 1997) Selma, Lord, Selma (1999) "Return of the King" (The Boondocks, 2006) Alpha Man: The Brotherhood of MLK (2011 documentary) Genius (MLK/X, 2024)
Plays	The Meeting (1987) The Mountaintop (2009) I Dream (2010) All the Way (2012)
Illustrated	Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story (1957 comic book)
Music	"Abraham, Martin and John" (Dion) "March! For Martin Luther King" (John Fahey) "Martin Luther King's Dream" (Strawbs) "Happy Birthday" (Stevie Wonder) "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (U2) "MLK" (U2) "King Holiday" (King Dream Chorus and Holiday Crew) "By the Time I Get to Arizona" (Public Enemy) "Shed a Little Light" (James Taylor) "Up to the Mountain" (Patti Griffin) "Never Alone Martin" (Jason Upton) "Symphony of Brotherhood" (Miri Ben-Ari) Joseph Schwantner: New Morning for the World; Nicolas Flagello: The Passion of Martin Luther King (1995 album) "A Dream" (Common featuring will.i.am) "Glory" (Common and John Legend)
Related	Civil rights movement in popular culture Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc. King v. Trustees of Boston Univ.