The late political activist Assata Shakur will be the subject of a documentary film and script project by filmmakers Gisele and Stephen Bailey (HBO’s “Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television”).
Shakur, also known as Joanne Chesimard, was a member of the Black Liberation Army and a fugitive who had been pursued by the United States since escaping from prison in 1979. Shakur died on September 25th in Havana, Cuba, where he was living in political exile. She was 78 years old. The upcoming project has been approved by Shakur’s daughter, Kakuya Shakur, and will be produced and co-directed by the sister-brother filmmaking team through their banner Indigo Films.
“Assata’s story is important to all Americans because it reveals the forces that divide us and our ability to heal,” co-directors Gisele and Stephen Bailey said in a statement announcing the project.
Civil rights lawyer Lennox Hines, who represented Shakur, granted exclusive access to the filmmakers, and political activist, professor, and author Angela Davis is also attached as an executive producer. The documentary is supported by Sundance, Firelight Media, Concordia Fellowship, and Chicken & Egg Films (which provided a significant R&D grant with support from Netflix’s Creative Equity Fund).
Gisele and Stephen Bailey are Jamaican-American film and television directors who are featured on DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40 list. Giselle Bailey was awarded a Concordia Fellowship for Best Director and a William Greaves grant from Firelight Media. Most recently, he directed and produced the HBO documentary “Seen & Heard,” for which Stephen was the cinematographer. The brothers also collaborated on HBO’s “The Legend of the Underground” (Gizele was co-director and producer, and Stephen was producer and cinematographer) and Netflix’s “Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop.” Stephen Bailey is also being touted as a co-producer of the HBO documentary Armed With Only a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud. Gisele and Stephen Bailey are repped by WME.
