Trailer for ‘Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am’

From her childhood in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio, to 1970s-era book tours with Muhammad Ali. From the front lines with Angela Davis to her own riverfront writing room, Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, America, history and the human condition as seen through the prism of her own work.

Inspired to write because no one took a “little black girl” seriously, Morrison reflects on her lifelong deconstruction of the master narrative. Woven together with a rich collection of art, history, literature and personality, the film includes discussions about her many critically acclaimed novels, including The Bluest Eye, Sula and Song of Solomon, her role as an editor of iconic African-American literature and her time teaching at Princeton University.

In addition to Morrison, the documentary features interviews with Angela Davis, Hilton Als, Fran Lebowitz, Walter Mosley, Sonia Sanchez, Farah Griffin and Oprah Winfrey, who turned Morrison’s novel Beloved into a feature film.

Directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Morrison’s for more than 35 years, “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and will be in theaters June 21 from Magnolia Pictures.