The Great Debaters

Synopsis

Based on true events, and directed by and starring Denzel Washington, The Great Debaters is the inspirational story of the brilliant but controversial Professor Melvin Tolson (Washington), who led his small town African American debating team from a struggling school in the deep south all the way to a showdown with Harvard University, the first African American school to do so.

Set in Texas in 1935, Tolson and his students are confronted with a deep-seated hatred drawn along colour lines. Undeterred, convincing his students that, "Debate is combat, but your weapons are words," Tolson will stop at nothing to prove to his students that there are no bounds to what can be achieved through the power of words. An amazing against-the-odds story, not to be missed.