Roots (2016 miniseries)

Roots
Promotional poster
Based on	Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley
Written by	Lawrence Konner Mark Rosenthal Alison McDonald Charles Murray
Directed by	Bruce Beresford Thomas Carter Phillip Noyce Mario Van Peebles
Starring	Malachi Kirby Forest Whitaker Anna Paquin Laurence Fishburne Jonathan Rhys Myers Anika Noni Rose T.I. Chad L. Coleman Emayatzy Corinealdi Matthew Goode Derek Luke Mekhi Phifer James Purefoy Erica Tazel Regé-Jean Page Lane Garrison
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	4
Production
Producers	Ann Kindberg George Parra Will Packer (executive) Marc Toberoff (executive) Mark Wolper (executive) LeVar Burton (co-executive) Korin Huggins (co-executive) Alissa M. Kantrow (line) Dirk Hoogstra (production executive) Michael Stiller (development executive)
Cinematography	Peter Menzies, Jr.
Editor	James Wilcox
Running time	Approx. 8 hours (including commercials)
Original release
Network	History Channel
Release	May 30 – June 2, 2016

Roots is a 2016 American miniseries and a remake of the 1977 miniseries with the same name. It first aired on May 30, 2016 and stars Malachi Kirby, Forest Whitaker, Anna Paquin, Laurence Fishburne, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Anika Noni Rose, and T.I.. It was produced on a budget of $50 million.

Plot: Episode 1

Kunta Kinte (Malachi Kirby) is an 18th-century Mandinka warrior from Juffure in the Gambia, in West Africa. Kunta's family is loyal to the Mandinka king and are resistant to the Europeans. This, however, means the Kinte family faces the danger of reprisal from the rival Koro family, who trade African slaves for English guns. Kunta is captured by the Koros, who sell him and other members of the Kinte family to white slave traders for two crates of guns. Despite an attempted mutiny by the slaves, he is transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Colony of Virginia, where he is sold to John Waller, who owns at tobacco plantation. Kunta is renamed Toby, and put under the care of a musician slave called Fiddler (Forest Whitaker). With the aid of Fiddler,, Kunta makes an escape attempt on Christmas, but is caught and flogged by the cruel overseer Connelly until he says his name is Toby, not Kunta Kinte (30 times). Kunta realizes that he will not be returning to his home in the Gambia. Fiddler tends to Kunta's bloodied back and tells him to keep his true name inside, no matter what the white men call him.

Plot: Episode 2

10 years later, Kunta Kinte is running away again when he finds a British Calvary that tells him to go to the border and join other runaway slaves to fight against the Americans. Instead, Kunta Kinte finds himself deceived by the British army and runs away again. Once again, Kunta is captured and has the toes on one foot cut off to prevent him from running away again. As he recovers, he is then sold to Dr. William Waller, John's brother, who takes him to his farm, where he is tended by Belle and Fiddler. After he is healed, Kunta works in the field until Belle convinces Dr. Waller to drive his horse carriage and train the horses. Belle and Kunta get married and have a daughter, whose they name Kizzy. Over the years, Kizzy befriends John Waller's daughter Missy, who teaches Kizzy to read and write. They were best friends, practically sisters, until Kizzy falls in love with another slave, Noah, and during a hurricane, forges a road pass so the two can escape to freedom. However, Noah is cornered and killed by accident, and as a result of Missy telling her father and uncle Kizzy can read, the Waller family sell Kizzy to Tom Lea of North Carolina. Tom Lea rapes Kizzy and she gives birth to their son, George. Distraught over losing her family, Kizzy tries to commit suicide, instead she realizes that if she does then she will lose the values that were taught to her by Kunta. Kizzy is last seen holding her baby George proclaiming his arrival into the world.

Cast

• Malachi Kirby as Kunta Kinte
• Nokuthula Ledwaba as Binta
• Emayatzy Corinealdi as Belle
• Forest Whitaker as Henry (Fiddler)
• Anika Noni Rose as Kizzy Waller
• Emyri Crutchfield as Young Kizzy Waller
• Regé-Jean Page as Chicken George
• Erica Tazel as Matilda
• James Purefoy as John Waller
• Katie McGuinness as Elizabeth Waller
• Matthew Goode as Dr. William Waller
• Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Tom Lea
• Shannon Lucio as Patricia Lea
• Chad Coleman as Mingo
• Tony Curran as Connelly
• Anna Paquin as Nancy Holt
• T.I. as Cyrus
• Derek Luke as Silla Ba Dibba
• G Hannelius as Missy Waller
• Carlacia Grant as Irene
• Mekhi Phifer as Jerusalem
• Sam Malone as Ashford
• Denise Milfort as Ms. Ellen
• Mandela Van Peebles as Noah
• Terence Rosemore as Orly
• Lane Garrison as Frederick Murray
• Sedale Threatt Jr. as Tom
• Brett Rice as William Byrd
• Laurence Fishburne as Alex Haley (voiceover narration)

Production

The History channel commissioned a remake of the miniseries after acquiring rights from David L. Wolper's son, Mark Wolper, and Alex Haley's estate. The new eight-hour miniseries, with Mark Wolper as executive producer, drew on Haley's novel and the original miniseries albeit from a contemporary perspective. In April 2015, it was announced that along with The History Channel, Lifetime and A&E would also broadcast the remake of the Roots miniseries. Will Packer, Marc Toberoff and Mark Wolper will executive produce it alongside Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal. LeVar Burton, star of the original series, and Korin Huggins will co-executive produce it.

On February 11, 2016, a trailer for the remake of Roots was released and Paul Buccieri, president of A&E and The History Channels, announced that the four night, 8-hour event series would premiere on Memorial Day, May 30, 2016. The ensemble cast includes Forest Whitaker as Fiddler, Anna Paquin as Nancy Holt, Lane Garrison as Frederick Murray, Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Tom Lea, Anika Noni Rose as Kizzy, Tip Harris as Cyrus, Emayatzy Corinealdi as Belle, Matthew Goode as Dr. William Waller, Mekhi Phifer as Jerusalem, James Purefoy as John Waller, introduces Regé-Jean Page as Chicken George and Malachi Kirby as Kunta Kinte, and Laurence Fishburne as Alex Haley.

Broadcast and distribution

In the United States, Roots aired in four installments of approximately two hours each, from May 30 to June 2, 2016, on History, A&E, and Lifetime.

In Canada, in addition to availability on A&E, whose U.S. feed is carried in Canada directly – but not the licensed Canadian versions of History or Lifetime – the series will stream on CraveTV beginning in fall 2016.

Reception

Roots received critical acclaim, with praise directed towards the acting abilities of the cast, the faithfulness to the original, and the modern changes. On Rotten Tomatoes the series has a rating of 97%, based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A powerfully impressive -- and still relevant -- update on a television classic, Roots boasts remarkable performances, deep emotion, and occasionally jarring beauty." On Metacritic the series has a score of 83 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

External links

• Roots at IMDb