''Giving Voice'' is a 2020 American

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

film, directed and produced by James D. Stern and Fernando Villena. The film follows the 2018 edition of the annual

August Wilson August Wilson (né Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of 10 plays, collectively called '' ...

Monologue Competition entered by thousands of high school students for the opportunity to perform on Broadway.

Viola Davis Viola Davis ( ; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and film producer. List of awards and nominations received by Viola Davis, Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. ''Time (magazine), Time'' named her one of ...

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

, Constanza Romero and Nicholas Caprio serve as executive producers. The film had its world premiere at the

2020 Sundance Film Festival The 2020 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 23 to February 2, 2020. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 4, 2019. The opening night film was '' Miss Americana'' directed by Lana Wilson and produced by Morg ...

, where it won the Festival Favorite award. It was released on December 11, 2020, by

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

Synopsis

Thousands of high school students enter the yearly

monologue competition for the opportunity to perform on Broadway.

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...

, Jack Viertel, Gerardo Navarro, Nia Sarfo, Freedom Martin, Cody Merridith, Callie Holley and Aaron Guy appear in the film.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

on January 26. Shortly after,

acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released on December 11, 2020.

Reception

At the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

, the film won the Festival Favorite Award.

Review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported rating from 16 professional critic reviews, with an average rating of . In December 2020, the film was named as a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' Critic's Pick.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2020 films 2020 documentary films American documentary films Documentary films about theatre Netflix original documentary films Impact Partners films 2020s English-language films Films directed by James D. Stern 2020s American films English-language documentary films