''Giving Voice'' is a 2020 American
documentary film, directed and produced by
James D. Stern and Fernando Villena. The film follows the 2018 edition of the annual
August Wilson Monologue Competition
entered by thousands of high school students for the opportunity to perform on Broadway.
Viola Davis,
John Legend,
Constanza Romero and Nicholas Caprio serve as executive producers.
The film had its world premiere at the
2020 Sundance Film Festival
The 2020 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 23 to February 2, 2020. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 4, 2019. The opening night film was ''Miss Americana'' directed by Lana Wilson and produced by Morgan ...
, where it won the Festival Favorite award. It was released on December 11, 2020, by
Netflix.
Synopsis
Thousands of high school students enter the yearly
August Wilson monologue competition for the opportunity to perform on Broadway.
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...
,
Viola Davis,
Jack Viertel, Gerardo Navarro, Nia Sarfo, Freedom Martin, Cody Merridith, Callie Holley and Aaron Guy appear in the film.
Release
The film had its world premiere at the
2020 Sundance Film Festival
The 2020 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 23 to February 2, 2020. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 4, 2019. The opening night film was ''Miss Americana'' directed by Lana Wilson and produced by Morgan ...
on January 26. Shortly after,
Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released on December 11, 2020.
Reception
At the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
, the film won the Festival Favorite Award.
Review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes reported rating from 16 professional critic reviews, with an average rating of .
In December 2020, the film was named as a ''
New York Times'' Critic's Pick.
References
External links
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2020 films
2020 documentary films
American documentary films
Documentary films about theatre
Netflix original documentary films
2020s English-language films
Films directed by James D. Stern
2020s American films