Roots (mini-series 2016)

Episodes

Episode 1

1750 year . In the African country of the Gambia, Kunta Kinte is born from the Mandinka people, who by this time have been practicing the Muslim religion for 500 years. 1765 year . At the age of fifteen, Kunta Kinte is captured by whites for sale in slavery. In 1767, a ship with slaves arrives in Annapolis, Maryland, where it is sold on a plantation in Spotsilveyney, Virginia . He is given the new name "Toby." Leaving no attempts to escape, the next years Kunta continues to be in slavery.

Episode 2

1782 year . US War of Independence . Having escaped once again, Kunta joins with the Indians to the punitive forces of Britain, he fights against the American rebels, but is again caught and returned to the owners. In punishment, his toes are chopped off. However, for the ability to handle horses, they make him a coachman. Kunta marries a black slave Belle, a cook of the Wheeler family, and soon they will have a daughter, Kizzy. 1789 year . Young Kizzy is friends with her peer - a white girl, the daughter of the owners. At this time, abolitionist preachers were already appearing in the district calling for the abolition of slavery. 1798 year . Kizzy is 15 years old. She secretly learned to read. The owner begins to speak out loud that it is time to “pair” her. Kunta teaches Kizzy to ride a horse and defend himself, gives her knowledge of her people’s mandinka . While trying to help their beloved slave boyfriend escape, Kizzy is caught and sold as punishment to the Tom Lea plantation in Caswell North Carolina . The new owner immediately rapes her, as a result of which Kizzy gives birth to a son, whom Tom Lea gives the name George. Kizzy tries to drown the child, but the desire to convey to him the story of his people, the mandinka finally wins, and the child remains alive.

Episode 3

1816 year . George, growing up, becomes an assistant to his master and father Tom Leah in cockfights . For success in this matter, he was nicknamed "Chicken" George. 1828 year . George brings profit to the owner and considers himself a friend of Tom Leah. He marries and calls his son the name of his master and father - Tom. However, during the 1831 rebellion of Nat Turner , George realizes that he will always be a slave to Tom Leah. In 1840, Tom Leah promises George and his family freedom "after winning", but loses all his fortune and for debts gives George to the Briton, who separates him from his family and takes him across the ocean to Europe.

Episode 4

1849 year . England , Hampshire . "Chicken" George in the UK successfully earns new master cockfights . The new owner promises to release and release George to his homeland when he compensates for Tom Leah's debt. 1860 year . Twenty years later, a year before the outbreak of the Civil War , George returned to the United States again, no longer a slave. He learns that his mother Kizzy has died, and the completely ruined Tom Leah did not keep his word and sold his family to another plantation. Being a free man, George finds his family, but their new owners - the Murray family are not happy about the free black who confuses their slaves with his freedom and wants to seize him in order to sell. He has to leave. 1861 year . The Civil War begins and George joins the troops of the north to confront the slave-owning south. At this time, a new white daughter-in-law with her black servant appears in the Murray family. George's son Tom discovers that Murray’s daughter-in-law and her servant are secret scouts of the northerners. Tom participates in their unsuccessful attack on the envoys of the southerners, where they are caught and executed, and Tom manages to escape unnoticed. April 12, 1864, George takes part in the Battle of Fort Pillow ^[5] , where the victorious Southerners brutally crack down on the black soldiers of the Negro battalion who tried to surrender. But George and his friend manage to escape. On June 22, 1865, the Civil War ends, but partisans of the southerners still hide in the forests. At the request of his mother, Tom searches for his father George, who continues to fight with the partisans, and brings him home. The Thirteenth Amendment , which prohibited slavery in the United States, entered into force on December 18, 1865 . A family of former slaves leaves the estate of the Murray family. The son of the former owner, who tried to stop them and shoot at Tom, was killed by George. Blacks understand that they need to always be ready to stand up for their freedom, since there will always be those who try to take this freedom away.

• Malachi Kirby - Kunta Quinte Toby
• Emayatsi Corinealdi - Belle
• Forest Whitaker - Fiddler
• Anika Noni Rose - Kizzy
• Imari Kratchfield - Young Kizzy
• Reg-Gene Page - Chicken George
• Erica Tazel - Tilda
• James Purefoy - John Wheeler
• Katie McGuinness - Elizabeth Wheeler
• Matthew Goode - Dr. William Wheeler
• Jonathan Rhys Myers - Tom Leah
• Shannon Lucio - Patricia Lea
• Chad Coleman - Mingo
• Anna Paquin - Nancy Holt
• TI as Cyrus
• Derek Luke - Silla Ba Dibba
• G. Hannelius - Missy Wheeler
• Carlos Grant - Irene
• Mekai Fifer - Jerusalem
• Sam Malone - Ashford
• Denis Milfort - Ms. Ellen
• Mandela Van Peebles - Noah
• Terrence Rosmore - Orly
• Sedale Tritt ml. - tom
• Brett Rice - William Byrd
• Lawrence Fishborn - Alex Hayley (narrator)

• " Roots " on the Internet Movie Database