“Everybody Hates Chris” actress Tichina Arnold will be starring in a new movie called The Lena Baker Story which is about the first woman in the state of Georgia that was sent to the electric chair.
Lena Baker was an African American woman who became a virtual sex slave to her white employer and killed him, claiming self-defense. She was pardoned by the state two years ago, some 60 years after her execution.
Writer-director-producer Ralph Wilcox of the film said:
“The film is a cradle-to-grave story that offers a real perspective on Lena as opposed to just one incident,” “Race does play a part, but this story is really about a woman torn between a rock and a hard place.”
The $2.5 million project is the first filmed in the new 22,000-square-foot Jokara-Micheaux production facility in Colquitt, Ga, marking an important step toward revitalizing one of the poorest districts in the United States.
The director of the Southwest Georgia Film Commission, Wilcox obtained about $1 million from government grants to build the studio.
Beverly Todd ,Peter Coyote and Michael Rooker will also star in the flick.