Giving Voice

August Wilson, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer of Fences, The Piano Lesson, and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, is one of America’s preeminent playwrights, chronicling the African American experience with 10 plays, each set in a different decade of the twentieth century. Now, every year, thousands of high school students from across the country gather in New York City to perform one of his monologues in a riveting, high-stakes competition on Broadway. Giving Voice closely follows the lives of six of these vibrant students as they meticulously develop their individual performances with the hopes of embodying Wilson’s legacy. Directors James D. Stern and Fernando Villena take us on an emotional journey - equal parts moving and gripping - with these young men and women, utilizing the competition as a compelling framework for young people across the country to deeply connect with Wilson’s ideas. A singular talent and artist, Wilson provides a lens for a new generation to understand their surroundings, inspiring them to find their own voice and persevere in their increasingly complicated world. (Sundance Film Festival)