MISSISSIPPI BURNING

 "MISSISSIPPI BURNING" (1988)

"This film is an American crime thriller film directed by Alan Parker that is loosely based on the 1964 murder investigation of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner in Mississippi. It stars Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe. The supporting cast includes Frances McDormand, Michael Rooker, Brad Dourif, R. Lee Ermery, Kevin Dunn, Stephen Tobolowsky, Tobin Bell and Parker Overall. Screenwriter Chris Gerolmo began the script in 1986 after researching the 1964 murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. On release, "Mississippi Burning" was criticized by activists involved in the civil rights movement and the families of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner for its fictionalization of events. It received seven Academy Award nominations, including "Best Picture", and won for "Best Cinematography." for which it was put on the schedule."

SYNOPSIS: "When a group of civil rights workers goes missing in a small Mississippi town, FBI agents Alan Ward (Willem Dafoe) and Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman) are sent in to investigate. Local authorities refuse to cooperate with them, and the African American community is afraid to, precipitating a clash between the two agents over strategy. As the situation becomes more volatile, the direct approach is abandoned in favor of more aggressive, hard-line tactics."