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Plot

Actor Tim Reid (WKRP in Cincinnati) made his directorial debut with this filmed adaptation of Clifton L. Taulbert's autobiography. Set in an African-American community in the segregated South, Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored follows a young Taulbert through three decades, beginning with his birth in a cotton field in 1946. As he grows up, Taulbert is faced with the harsh realities of being black in the mid-20th century: first from the lessons of his great-grandfather (Al Freeman Jr.), later in his trips to the local segregated library, and finally in 1962, when a 16-year-old Taulbert watches as his community deals with a racist white business owner trying to run a local black ice man out of town. Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored was the recipient of the Audience Choice Award at the 1995 St. Louis International Film Festival.
MPAA Rating:
PG for thematic elements including mild violence, language, and sensuality.
Genre(s):
Drama
Run Time:
112min.
Theatrical Release Date:
12/04/1995
DVD Release Date:
01/12/1999
Director(s):
Themes:
Social Injustice,Race Relations,Small-Town Life
Tone:
Bittersweet,Gentle,Understated,Warm
Keywords:
African-American,Civil-Rights,discrimination,family,grandfather,library,prejudice,race-relations
Language:
English