Apple’s “The Banker,” starring Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson, will close out the 2019 AFI Fest, the American Film Institute announced on Thursday.
The Closing Night Gala will take place on Nov. 21 at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California.
“‘The Banker’ joins a remarkable group of films being released this year that openly confront centuries of racism and injustice in our country, while celebrating the brave individuals whose activism has created real change,” Michael Lumpkin, director of AFI Festivals, said.
“The Banker,” based on a true story, follows revolutionary businessmen Bernard Garrett (Mackie) and Joe Morris (Jackson), who “devise a risky plan to take on the racist establishment of the 1960s by helping other African Americans pursue the American dream,” according to the official plot summary. They enlist Garrett’s wife Eunice (Nia Long) to help train a working class white man, played by Nicholas Hoult, to be part of their plan.
George Nolfi directed, while Joe Viertel produces. Brad Feinstein produced under his Romulus Entertainment banner, along with Nolfi, Nnamdi Asomugha, Jonathan Baker, Davis Lewis Smith and Mackie. Joseph F. Ingrassia, Jackson, Will Greenfield, David Gendron and Ali Jazayeri executive produced. Niceole Levy, Stan Younger, Lewis Smith and Nolfi wrote the script from a story by Lewis Smith, Younger and Brad Caleb Kane.
“The Banker” will hit theaters on Dec. 6 and will debut on Apple TV+ in January.
AFI Fest 2019 will take place from Nov. 14 to Nov. 21.
The opening film is Melina Matsoukas’ “Queen & Slim.”