It’s a channel that is often ripped for its ubiquitous hip hop and R&B music programming, but BET is breaking new ground with its first miniseries, “The Book of Negroes.”
The epic saga, based on Lawrence Hill’s 2007 best-selling novel, traces the journey of an 11-year-old West African girl sold into American slavery in 1750. She endures horrendous hardship and is later tasked with recording a ledger of 3,000 slaves working for the British Army during the American Revolution. The register is an actual historical document known as the Book of Negroes.
Directed and co-written by Clement Virgo, a Toronto-based filmmaker whose credits include “The Wire,” “The L Word” and “Soul Food,” the historical drama stars Aunjanue Ellis (“The Help,” Fox’s “Sleepy Hollow”) in the lead role of Aminata Diallo, with supporting roles by Lyriq Bent (“Rookie Blue”) and Academy Award winners Lou Gossett Jr. and Cuba Gooding Jr. The program debuts Monday at 8 p.m.
A native of Jamaica, Virgo was reluctant to read Hill’s prize-winning tome because of its title. “I just had an aversion to the word,” he said. “Because it’s so closely connected to the other N-word, I had my own kind of sense that it was derogatory in some way. And then I finally read it and when I did, I fell in love with it.
“I fell in love with the story,” said Virgo. “I fell in love with Aminata. I fell in love with the history told from her point of view, and I fell in love with the feel of it.”
The project, which cost approximately $16 million to produce, was shot on location in South Africa and Nova Scotia, Virgo noted.
“This miniseries — our first ever — showcases programming that inspires and matters most to our audience,” said Debra L. Lee, BET Networks chairman and CEO.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertai...niseries-world-book-negroes-article-1.2114475
