Colin Kaepernick took a stand by kneeling, and now he wants to tell you his story in "Colin in Black and White," a new limited series coming to Netflix later this month.
In 2016, Kaepernick — then a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers — famously took a knee during the national anthem as a show of protest against police brutality and racial injustice. The 45th U.S. president, whose reality-show catchphrase was, "You're fired," suggested that Kaepernick and other athletes like him should be fired. Kaepernick subsequently became a free agent but remained unsigned, effectively ending his football career.
Then, in the summer of 2020, the George Floyd protests happened, and suddenly (as if it weren't obvious already), it looked like Kaepernick was ahead of the curve and had been unfairly treated by the NFL and the system as a whole. Now, he's heading to Netflix to narrate a dramatization of his life, with a little help from Ava DuVernay.
DuVernay has a great track record with Netflix, having previously helmed the Oscar-nominated documentary "13th" and the Emmy-nominated miniseries "When They See Us" for the streaming giant. In "Colin in Black and White," she's directing Jaden Michael, the star of last year's "Vampires vs. the Bronx," as the young Kaepernick, with Nick Offerman and Mary-Louise Parker playing his adoptive white parents.
You can see the trailer for "Colin in Black and White" below.
Colin In Black And White Trailer
Joe Montana, another QB for the 49ers, had the luxury of saying, "I'm going to Disneyland," after he led the team to two Super Bowl wins. Kaepernick's NFL career may have been cut short, but the long arc of the moral universe bends toward justice, and he's going to Netflix.
In "Colin in Black and White," Kaepernick "appears as the present-day narrator of his own story, guiding viewers through a robust and colorfully presented array of historical and contemporary contextual moments." According to the synopsis, the series will chronicle Kaepernick's early life, "tackling the obstacles of race, class, and culture as the Black adopted child of a white family … before reaching the highest levels of American football as an NFL quarterback and becoming a cultural icon and activist."
Here's the official logline for "Colin in Black and White:"
What you know isn't the entire story. From Colin Kaepernick and Ava DuVernay, "Colin In Black and White" shows the coming of age story of a kid who just wanted to play ball, but was destined for much more. Jaden Michael stars as young Colin Kaepernick in this six-part series about the athlete turned activist's high school years.
"Colin in Black and White" hits Netflix on Friday, October 29, 2021.
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The post Colin in Black and White Trailer: Ava DuVernay and Netflix Tell the Story of Colin Kaepernick appeared first on /Film.