WATCH: Trailer for Viola Davis and Steph Curry Documentary, ‘Emanuel’

By Tiarra Mukherjee Apr 09, 2019

On June 17, 2015, a White supremacist gunman took the lives of nine Black parishioners at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Four years later, “Emanuel,” a documentary from producers Steph Curry, Viola Davis, Julius Tennon and Mariska Hargitay looks to examine the tragedy.

The first trailer, released yesterday (April 8), highlights stories from witnesses, survivors and family members of the murdered. The film, which was made in partnership with the city of Charleston and the families affected by the shooting, weaves these voices with a history of race relations in Charleston.

“We, along with the country, grieved each family’s loss,” Davis and Tennon told Deadline. “Yet, miraculously, from this devastation we witnessed tremendous benchmarks of humanity. The survivors found courage to love in the face of hate.” Curry, Davis, Tennon and Hargitay will give their share of profits from the project to survivors of the shooting and the families of those who were killed.

“Emanuel” will be in theaters nationwide on June 17 and 19.