Former NFL linebacker Jeremiah Trotter stars as escaped slave Big Ben Jones, alongside Keith David as Frederick Douglass, in writer/director Thomas K. Phillips’ indie feature film, The North Star, which we first alerted you to early last year, and have been following since.
The film is based on true events, and tells the story of the aforementioned Big Ben Jones, a slave who makes a daring escape from a Virginia plantation to Buckingham, PA in 1848, and gets helped by local Quakers.
In addition to Trotter and David, the film’s cast includes Clifton Powell, Michael Rapaport, Lynn Whitfield, Michael Jai White, April Woodall, Jermaine Jones, and Alana Lee.
By the way, The North Star was the name of an anti-slavery newspaper published by Frederick Douglass in the 1800s.
The film is now scheduled to screen at the Pan African Film Festival that takes place in Los Angeles, CA, which runs from February 6-17, 2014, celebrating its 22nd anniversary..
PAFF is celebrating its 22nd anniversary this year, screening a total of 172 films – 37 documentaries, 23 short documentaries, 55 narrative features, and 57 narrative shorts, as well as 11 web series in the new category of new media – all representing 46 countries.
Trailer for The North Star below:
