Director: Doug Atchison
Writer(s): Doug Atchison
Starring: Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Curtis Armstrong, J.R. Villarreal, Sean Michael Afable, Sahara Ware, Lee Thompson Young, Julito McCullum, Erica Hubbard, Eddie Steeples, Dalia Phillips, Tzi Ma, Jeris Poindexter, Sara Niemietz, George Hornedo, Craig Wasson, Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, Marjorie Harris, Jacques Bailly, Krysten Leigh Jones, Amirah Hawkins, Jeff Marlow, Chloé Conroy, Lee Garlington, Sidney Ganis, Austin Herrera Davis, Janet Borrus, Wolfgang Bodison, Marcus Hawkins Dungey, Bonita Friedericy, Caroline J. Smith, Neil Soni, Jack Ong, Lauren Sanchez, Fay Hauser, Keshell Lucas, Corina Boettger, Shyann Chatman, Todd Wagner, Brittany Curran, Alexandra Rieger, Eric Don, Julia Kelleher, Zac Gardner, John A. Ausick, Maddy Kloss, Mason Green, Jessy J. Hwang, Biplab Panda, Alexander Christian Stephans, Katie L. Brown, John Oxenreiter, Katie Olson, Jason Ortenberg, Lance Norling, Jmeka Cherrel, Kahlil Ashanti, Kevin Cole, Andrea Calabrese, D.T. Carney, Pierre D. Chambers, Rennie Cowan, Jemma Evans, Eric Fallecker, Aaron Fonseca, Andrea Frisby, Thomas Gilbert, Justin Rodgers Hall, Stephanie Hass, Dava Hulsey, Carshenah Jefferson, Lanaria Johnson, Rebecca Knight, Elaine Lockhart, Robert McMurrer, Kelron Mixon, Margaret Newborn, Kai Nugent, Galda E. Ortiz, Justin D. Reininga, Michelle Stobaugh, Holly Traister, Brittany M. Wildman, Kaitlyn Williams
Synopsis: Eleven year-old Akeelah Anderson’s life is not easy: her father is dead, her mom ignores her, her brother runs with the local gangbangers. She’s smart, but her environment threatens to strangle her aspirations. Responding to a threat by her school’s principal, Akeelah participates in a spelling bee to avoid detention for her many absences. Much to her surprise and embarrassment, she wins. Her principal asks her to seek coaching from an English professor named Dr. Larabee for the more prestigious regional bee. As the possibility of making it all the way to the Scripps National Spelling Bee looms, Akeelah could provide her community with someone to rally around and be proud of — but only if she can overcome her insecurities and her distracting home life. She also must get past Dr. Larabee’s demons, and a field of more experienced and privileged fellow spellers.
Release Date: April 28, 2006 (USA) | Length: 112 min | Genre: Drama, Family | MPAA Rating: Rated PG for some language.