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IMDbPro

The Book of Negroes

  • TV Mini Series
  • 2015
  • 44m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
2.5K
YOUR RATING
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in The Book of Negroes (2015)
The Book Of Negroes
Play trailer1:01
1 Video
15 Photos
Period DramaDramaHistoryWar

Kidnapped in Africa and subsequently enslaved in South Carolina, Aminata must navigate a revolution in New York, isolation in Nova Scotia, and the treacherous jungles of Sierra Leone to secu... Read allKidnapped in Africa and subsequently enslaved in South Carolina, Aminata must navigate a revolution in New York, isolation in Nova Scotia, and the treacherous jungles of Sierra Leone to secure her freedom in the 18th century.Kidnapped in Africa and subsequently enslaved in South Carolina, Aminata must navigate a revolution in New York, isolation in Nova Scotia, and the treacherous jungles of Sierra Leone to secure her freedom in the 18th century.

  • Stars
    • Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor
    • Lyriq Bent
    • Ben Chaplin
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.8/10
    2.5K
    YOUR RATING
    • Stars
      • Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor
      • Lyriq Bent
      • Ben Chaplin
    • 14User reviews
    • 6Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 19 wins & 26 nominations total

    Episodes6

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated1 season

    Videos1

    The Book Of Negroes
    Trailer 1:01
    The Book Of Negroes

    Photos14

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    Top cast96

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    Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor
    Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor
    • Aminata Diallo
    • 2015
    Lyriq Bent
    Lyriq Bent
    • Chekura Tiano
    • 2015
    Ben Chaplin
    Ben Chaplin
    • Cpt. John Clarkson
    • 2015
    Allan Hawco
    Allan Hawco
    • Solomon Lindo
    • 2015
    Greg Bryk
    Greg Bryk
    • Robertson Appleby
    • 2015
    Shailyn Pierre-Dixon
    • Young Aminata
    • 2015
    Cara Ricketts
    Cara Ricketts
    • Bertilda
    • 2015
    Sandra Caldwell
    Sandra Caldwell
    • Georgia
    • 2015
    Dwain Murphy
    Dwain Murphy
    • Claiborne
    • 2015
    Louis Gossett Jr.
    Louis Gossett Jr.
    • Daddy Moses
    • 2015
    Antonio David Lyons
    Antonio David Lyons
    • Happy Jack
    • 2015
    Siyabonga Xaba
    • Young Chekura
    • 2015
    Cuba Gooding Jr.
    Cuba Gooding Jr.
    • Sam Fraunces
    • 2015
    Armand Aucamp
    Armand Aucamp
    • Lieutenant Waters
    • 2015
    Robin Smith
    Robin Smith
    • William King
    • 2015
    Kyle M. Hamilton
    • Elijah…
    • 2015
    Joel Thomas Hynes
    Joel Thomas Hynes
    • Matthew Witherspoon
    • 2015
    Stephan James
    Stephan James
    • Cummings Shakspear
    • 2015
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews14

    7.82.4K
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    Featured reviews

    10the_remixer08

    Learned things I never knew

    To make the long story short, this movie proves that you can never learn too much when it comes to historic events. My mother is almost 60, and she went into this movie thinking that she wasn't going to like it but was drawn in as well, learning things she never knew.

    All of the actors did a superb job at bringing these individuals to life. They made you chuckle at time as well as cry.

    I also appreciated the beautiful love story in between the education. Aunjanue Ellis and Lyriq Bent made you fall in love with Aminata and Chekura immediately, and it showed how much strength and beauty people had through the roughest time. I am glad those two are getting the recognition they deserve for they have always been great actors!

    I have never read the book, but because of being introduced to historic events from this movie, has driven completely to read the book and soak all the information in that I can. Hopefully this will inspire others as well, who haven't had the pleasure of reading the book.

    TEN POINTS AND BEYOND!
    7SnoopyStyle

    little known history

    Aminata Diallo (Aunjanue Ellis) is captured from her West African village and sent into slavery. She falls for Chekura, a boy in the slaving party. He in turn is also sold. She is sold to the cruel Robinson Appleby. She resists his advances and eventually has a child with Chekura. Rosa Lindo is a sympathetic white woman but she dies. Her husband Solomon is able to buy Aminata but also brokers the sale of Aminata's child away from Robinson. Aminata escapes from Solomon to live in NYC's Canvas Town during the American Revolution. She is befriended by Revolutionary bar owner Samuel Fraunces (Cuba Gooding, Jr.). Chekura manages to escape and join Aminata. She is also befriended by British Cpt. John Clarkson (Ben Chaplin). At the war's end, she helps to record names of slaves into the Book of Negroes for slaves who supposedly served the British Army for one year and thereby earning their freedom.

    It's great for this little mentioned part of history to be made. Also Aunjanue Ellis is a very compelling actress. I can do without Cuba Gooding Jr. doing an accent. Also Rick Roberts doesn't fit my image of General Washington. Aminata directly challenging Washington on slavery seems too obvious and on the nose. It's unrealistic. The story is rushed through a long winding life. I can understand the need for it. However it does feel sometimes like a highlight reel. The production and directions are mostly TV movie level. Ellis is able to elevate the production almost by the sheer power of her will.
    8brizl47-1

    Worth the Six Hours

    Like others have said here, I got a good bit of new information from this series, that I didn't know about before. I've always liked Ms. Ellis, especially in The Mentalist. There was a great deal of subtle artistry in her makeup as she aged. I thought the story flowed very well. But honestly, whoever cut the series should get a new pair of scissors. Maybe the network cut it so sloppily for commercials? It was completely distracting. Other than that, I was fascinated with the set direction, costumes, locations and thought the supporting cast was very good. I'd like to read a bio of Ms. Diallo now. Ridiculous that we have to write ten lines for a review. Blah.
    6ma-cortes

    This is the Saga of an African girl, featuring Aminata Diallo well starred by Aunjanue Ellis

    Epic, intense TV series in 6 episodes about a young girl and then adult, depicting an intense dramatization of Aminata Diallo (Aunjanue Ellis), she is abducted from his African village, sold into slavery, and taken to America, her love story with Chekura (Lyriq Bent) who manages to escape and join Aminata, they have a daughter, who is eventually sold away from them , to her liberation. She is also befriended by British Cpt. John Clarkson (Ben Chaplin) and along the ways suffering cruel enslavement. Later on, she migrated from Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone, where they formed the original settlers of Freetown, under the auspices of the Sierra Leone Company. Throughout the series, Aminata efforts to secure her freedom in the eighteenth century, she must navigate a revolution, isolation in Nova Scotia and the treacherous jungles of Sierra Leone. Observing notable events in U. S. history, such as a revolutionary movement in New York, slave uprisings, and emancipation. Her testimony to lead the African-American people into freedom.

    The series deals with a young African woman captured in Africa as a child and subsequently enslaved in South Carolina, she is literate and acts as a scribe to record the information about the former slaves. The film packs crude scenes full of brutality and cruelty in which the African-American slaves suffer humiliations, flagellation, beating, degradation and mistreats by their owners Based on the novel concerning a saga of African-American life, in which Aminata witnesses countless atrocities - against herself and his fellow slaves ; being written by Canadian novelist Lawrence Hill, The Book of Negroes, (2007, published in the United States as Someone Knows My Name). It is inspired by the African Americans who were resettled in Nova Scotia, and some of them who later chose to go to Sierra Leone, where they created a colony of freedmen in Africa. The book won the top 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize notable African-American. The film displays nice acting talent at the time and several actors were solicited to join the cast. Support is frankly fine, such as : Cuba Gooding Jr, Greg Bryk, Jane Alexander, Ben Chaplin, Dwain Murphy , Allan Hawco, and Louis Gossett Jr. Canadian director Clement Virgo adapted decently the book into a six-hour television mini-series of the same title. The series premiered on CBC in Canada on 7 January 2015 and on BET in the United States on 16 February 2015.

    Based on historical events , in fact ¨The Book of Negroes¨ is a document created by Brigadier General Samuel Birch, that records names and descriptions of 3,000 Black Loyalists, enslaved Africans who escaped to the British lines during the American Revolution and were evacuated to points in Nova Scotia as free people of colour. African people were then brought as slaves to Nova Scotia during the founding of Louisbourg and Halifax. The first major migration of African people to Nova Scotia happened during the American Revolution. Enslaved Africans in America who escaped to the British during the American Revolutionary War became the first settlement of Black Nova Scotians and Black Canadians. Other Black Loyalists were transported to settlements in several islands in the West Indies and some to London. Recorded in 1783, this 150-page document is the only one to have recorded Black Canadians in a large, detailed scope of work. The document contains records on 3000 Africans; the former slaves recorded in the Book of Negroes were evacuated to British North America, where they were settled in the newly established Birchtown and other places in the colony. According to the Treaty of Paris (1783), the United States argued for the return of all property, including slaves. The British refused to return the slaves, to whom they had promised freedom during the war for joining their cause.
    10cjde

    superb!

    my recorder is filled with quality Black history programming of all sorts. i love me some Black history like crazy but didn't think i needed to see another "slavery" story but boy was i wrong. this one was different! what an amazing story and very well done! lots of unexpected twists and turns and what a unique and amazing heroin Aminata Diallo was. wow!! that is a name i will never forget. i can't say that i have seen every movie or mini-series and i Roots is in a category by itself. it was an epic event - not just a miniseries. but Book of Negros was a really refreshing take on the slavery story, one that i am ashamed to admit i was totally unaware of. i can't wait to watch it with my daughter when she comes home for spring break. i did not expect a program of this quality from B.E.T. but was very pleasantly surprised. not sure what the ratings were but certainly help they will be encouraged do more stories like this that show the many and varied heroes and heroines that we are. Thank You B.E.T.!!! something i haven't said in many years, if ever!

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Based on the name of the book that really existed, that had the names of Negroes who served the British during the Civil War, then were freed and sent to Nova Scotia to live. Publishers changed the name of the book from "Book of Negroes" to "Someone Knows My Name" because the term "Negro" has become a derogatory term to many people in the U.S., and sellers were hesitant to sell a book with that word in the title.

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    FAQ18

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • December 26, 2015 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • Canada
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Someone Knows My Name
    • Filming locations
      • Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site, Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, Canada
    • Production companies
      • Conquering Lion Pictures
      • Out of Africa Entertainment
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 44m
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 16:9 HD

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