Entertainment Studios acquires the rights to “From Selma to Sorrow: The Life and Death of Viola Liuzzo”

by Byron Allen Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures from Allen Media Group acquired the global media rights to the biography of the only recognized white woman at the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, by Deadline.

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From Selma to Sorrow: The Life and Death of Viola Liuzzo will tell the story of the wife and mother of five who died due to her membership in the civil rights movement. She was shot and killed by three members of the Ku Klux Klan and an FBI informant for her involvement in the civil rights marches from Selma to Montgomery in 1965.

Senior executive and executive producer of film and television content for Allen Media Group / Entertainment Studios, Carolyn Folks, has secured the global rights to the story and will serve as a producer and executive producer alongside Allen.

“Our passion for the story of Viola Liuzzo is unwavering,” said Folks. “At Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, we are committed to showcasing Liuzzo’s extraordinary acts of courage and his impactful contribution to the civil rights movement and our history. Viola Liuzzo will not be a forgotten heroine.

Casting for From Selma to Sorrow: The Life and Death of Viola Liuzzo should start this year.

Liuzzo’s reputation was tarnished by then FBI directorr J. Edgar Hoover. He called her a mentally unstable woman and heroin addict who left her family behind to create unrest in the South. Part of Hoover’s motivation was to cover up the involvement of an FBI informant, Gary Thomas Rowe, who participated in his murder.

Liuzzo’s story will be told through the eyes of her best friend, Sarah Evans, a black woman who introduced her to the movement and raised her five children after her death.

Reverend Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at Liuzzo’s funeral, prompting the president Lyndon johnson to discuss civil rights legislation.

Liuzzo’s biography was written by the author and historian Marie stanton, while the screenplay was written by Tina Andrews of Why do fools fall in lovee.

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As previously stated by leGrio, Hoover’s role in trying to destroy the civil rights movement means his name can be removed from the FBI building.

In 2020, the Tennessee congressman Steve cohen bill presented HR 7829 which would officially rename the building to the “Federal Bureau of Investigation Building”. Additionally, Congressman from Virginia Gerry Connolly introduced HR 7865 which would establish the National Commission on the Renaming of the FBI Headquarters Building Act J. Edgar Hoover.

Now, in 2021, there is a new call to remove the name of former FBI Director Hoover from the FBI building, which bears his name in 1972, months after his death.

Hoover served as the first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and during his tenure as head of the agency, among the controversies surrounding his tenure were the department’s investigations of King and other civil rights leaders.

Illinois congressman Bobby rush recount leGrio that Hoover also oversaw “the assassination of a state-sanctioned American citizen,” referring to Fred hampton, who was president of the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party.

Congressman Rush, who was the founder of the Chicago branch, is among lawmakers calling for the removal of Hoover’s name.

Additional reports from April Ryan

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