Silver Spring, MD - Taraji P. Henson arrived at the D.C. premiere for "The Best of Enemies" last Thursday eager to talk about the real life hero she played. The Academy Award nominated-actress portrays Ann Atwater, a black civil rights activist who somehow, some way got a local KKK leader to rip up his membership card and become one of her dearest friends.
In Durham, NC in 1971, Atwater led a campaign for school integration after an all-black school in the community was largely destroyed by a fire. C.P. Ellis, who is played by Oscar winner Sam Rockwell, was the Exalted Cyclops of the KKK in Durham and led the effort against integration.
They were getting nowhere, and that was precisely the moment a man named Bill Riddick arrived to town to stage a charrette, a 10-day forum that allows members of a community to try and resolve their issues. After much persuading, Riddick got Ellis and Atwater to agree to be co-chairs. Of course, the affair started with threats, and racial slurs (Riddick called their first meeting "the worst day of his professional career"). But, as the summit Ellis and Atwater began over the realization they were both trying to protect their children. School integration passed, and the co-chairs remained friends for the rest of their lives.
Best of Enemies producer Dominique Telson was introduced to and instantly moved by Atwater's and Ellis's story in 2015. She credited Riddick's charrette with playing a huge role in their impossible friendship. Could a charrette work in today's climate?
"It's such a great way to know your adversary," Telson said at the screening. "Maybe there's a way to find common ground. Sounds like a good way to do things to me!"
From left: Director Robin Tissell, actress Taraji P. Henson, and producer Dominique Telson.
Atwater clearly changed Ellis's life, to the point where his family invited her to give a eulogy at his funeral in 2005.
"I'm getting a chill just saying it," Telson said.
The charrette's positive domino effect has reverberated to this day, as Telson revealed one of her best friends on social media is Ellis's daughter.
While Atwater passed before The Best of Enemies was filmed, she was "so happy" that Taraji P. Henson, known for her stirring lead roles in the feature film Hidden Figures and the Fox drama "Empire," had been picked to play her, Telson recalled.
When Henson stopped by on the red carpet to chat with Townhall, she too said a charrette would be just as effective in 2019.
"I mean we're desperate right now," Henson said. "We're desperate. And what needs to happen, actually, is a charrette so we can sit down across from each other and listen."
One of the most powerful scenes in the film is when Ellis's transformation concludes in his tearing his KKK membership card to shreds. Director Robin Tissell said it was not only the most dramatic moment to film, but the longest one as well.
It took two days to film the scene in a big hall, which made it difficult, he explained, because he had to get everyone's reaction.
"I just had to stay focused because I was so emotional every time we got to that moment," he explained. "In the room it was tense."
But, as you'll discover in the theater, the result was worth the effort.
The Best of Enemies is in theaters this Friday.