Strange Fruit (2002) USA
Strange Fruit Image Cover
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Director:Katz, Joel
Writer:Joel Katz
Rating:7.8 (69 votes)
Date Added:2012-06-05
Awards:4 wins
Genre:English films
IMDb:0350166
Duration:57
Languages:English
Subtitles:No subtitles
LAC code:300008274
DVD or VHS:DVD
Original:original
Katz, Joel  ...  (Director)
Joel Katz  ...  (Writer)
 
Dorothy Thigpen  ...  Narrator
Amina Baraka  ...  Herself
Amiri Baraka  ...  Himself
E.M. 'Woody' Beck  ...  Himself
Don Byron  ...  Himself
Hazel Carby  ...  Herself
Michael Denning  ...  Himself
Henry Foner  ...  Himself
Milton Gabler  ...  Himself
Farah Jasmine Griffin  ...  Herself
Billie Holiday  ...  Herself
Robert Howard  ...  Himself
Bernie Kassoy  ...  Himself
Honey Kassoy  ...  Herself
Abbey Lincoln  ...  Herself
Summary: In 1937, after seeing a photo depicting the lynching of a black man in the south, Bronx-born high school teacher Abel Meeropol wrote a poem entitled "Strange Fruit" that begins with the words: "Southern trees bear a strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root." He set the poem to music and a few years later convinced Billy holiday to record it in a legendary heartbreaking performance. Intertwining jazz genealogy, biography, performance footage, and the history of lynching, director Joel Katz fashions a fascinating discovery of the lost story behind a true American classic.