Film Screening: “The Bell Affair”
The Prince George’s County Historical Society is sponsoring the showing of an important new film that you will not want to miss! The award-winning team that produced “Anna” has produced another important Maryland story - its inaugural feature-length animated film, “The Bell Affair.” The film will be shown at the Old Greenbelt Theatre, located at 129 Centerway, Greenbelt, Maryland, beginning promptly at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, February 9, 2023.
"The Bell Affair" tells the dramatic and inspiring story of Daniel and Mary Bell, who sued for their freedom from slavery and led one of the largest escape attempts in American history on the Pearl in April 1848. This debut feature comes from first-time filmmaker and acclaimed director Kwakiutl Dreher, accomplished digital artist and animator Michael Burton, and prize-winning historian and writer William G. Thomas III. The story is based on Thomas' recent book A Question of Freedom: The Families Who Challenged Slavery from the Nation's Founding to the Civil War.
Admission will be FREE, no reservations are required, and a discussion of the film will follow the screening led by William Thomas.
“The Bell Affair” won Best Animation at the 2022 Prince George's County Film Festival and was Honorable Mention at the 2022 Silk Road Film Awards Cannes. The film was produced with funding from prominent humanities organizations, including the National Endowment for the Humanities, Maryland Humanities, and the Kitty M. Perkins Foundation.
