Discover
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives is a 2003 American documentary film about the stories of former slaves interviewed during the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project and preserved in the WPA Slave Narrative Collection. This HBO film interpretation directed by Ed Bell and Thomas Lennon is a compilation of slave narratives, narrated by actors, emulating the original conversation with the interviewer. The slave narratives may be the most accurate in terms of the everyday activities of the enslaved, serving as personal memoirs of more than two thousand former slaves. The documentary depicts the emotions of the slaves and what they endured. The "Master" had the opportunity to sell, trade, or kill the enslaved, for retribution should one slave not obey.
Original Release
02/10/2003
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Whoopi Goldberg | Narrator / Narrator (voice) |
Angela Bassett | Reader |
Michael Boatman | Reader |
Roscoe Lee Browne | Reader |
Don Cheadle | Reader |
Sandra Daley | Reader |
Ossie Davis | Reader |
Ruby Dee | Reader |
Robert Guillaume | Reader |
Jasmine Guy | Reader |
Directors
Writers
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Whoopi Goldberg | Narrator / Narrator (voice) |
Angela Bassett | Reader |
Michael Boatman | Reader |
Roscoe Lee Browne | Reader |
Don Cheadle | Reader |
Sandra Daley | Reader |
Ossie Davis | Reader |
Ruby Dee | Reader |
Robert Guillaume | Reader |
Jasmine Guy | Reader |
Samuel L. Jackson | Reader |
CCH Pounder | Reader |
LaTanya Richardson Jackson | Reader |
Ruben Santiago-Hudson | Reader |
Roger Guenveur Smith | Reader |
Courtney B. Vance | Reader |
Vanessa Williams | Reader |
Oprah Winfrey | Reader |
Alfre Woodard | Reader |
John Henry Cox | Reader |
Producers
Name | Role |
---|
Donna Brown Guillaume | Executive Producer |
Sheila Nevins | Executive Producer |
Thomas Lennon | Producer |
Lana Garland | Producer |
Liz Gazzano | Producer |
Jacqueline Glover | Producer |
Beth Harrison | Producer |
Lisa Heller | Producer |
Schawannah Wright | Producer |
Juliet Weber | Producer |
Editors
Year | Type | Category | Won |
---|
2003 | Emmy | Outstanding Directing for Non-Fiction Programming | Nominated |
2003 | Emmy | Outstanding Writing for Non-Fiction Programming | Nominated |
2003 | Emmy | Outstanding Non-Fiction Special (Traditional) | Nominated |
2003 | Emmy | Outstanding Sound Editing for Non-Fiction Programming (Single or Multi-Camera) | Nominated |