Emmy Award-winning actress Alfre Woodard and Gbenga Akinnagber, best known for his role on HBO’s “The Wire,” are teaming up for the Urban Movie Channel’s upcoming release, “Knucklehead.”
Set to premiere on Friday, Oct. 21, the film takes on mental illness and Brooklyn’s notorious housing projects.
“When his brother (Amari Cheatom, Django Unchained) is shot, mentally disabled Langston Bellows (Gbenga Akinnagbe) is left without a protector in Brooklyn’s housing projects. Now under the control of his abusive mother (Alfre Woodard), Langston must take his future into his own hands. He sets out to find the one doctor he believes can cure him, a celebrity magazine columnist who touts questionable prescription drug cocktails. If Langston can become ‘mentally excellent,’ it will mean moving into an apartment of his own with his girlfriend, who may herself be a creation of his wishful thinking. Plunged into the unscrupulous world of pharmaceutical marketing, the search for his mysterious doctor and hero leads to some surprising discoveries. Nonetheless, Langston strives for independence from his prior life, from his mother, and from his fractured mind,” UMC tells rolling out of the story line.
According to reports, the made-for-TV film made its world premiere as part of the BAMcinématek series New Voices in Black Cinema in March 2015. It also closed St. Paul’s International film festival in late April 2015, where it nabbed the top award for fiction features, the “MN Made Narrative Feature.” The film also received multiple nominations at the 2015 American Black Film Festival.
Created by Robert L. Johnson, chairman of RLJ Entertainment and founder of Black Entertainment Television, Urban Movie Channel is the first urban-focused subscription streaming service in North America, featuring quality urban content, showcases, feature films, documentaries, original series, stand-up comedy, and much more, geared toward the African American audience. New titles include live stand-up specials like Gary Owen’s “I Agree with Myself,” and performances featuring Academy Award® winner Jamie Foxx and Kevin Hart in addition to dramas like Blackbird starring Academy Award®-winning actress Mo’Nique and Isaiah Washington.
For more information on Woodard and Akinnagbe’s highly anticipated release, visit www.urbanmoviechannel.com. Will you be watching? Sound off in the comment section below.
