The Bell Affair (2022)

Daniel and Mary Bell sued for their freedom from slavery and won. After slaveholders threatened to re-enslave them and their children, the Bells led one of the largest escape attempts in American history. Their inspiring story is brought to cinema for the first time. Filmed and directed remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic, the cast was never in the same room with each other or with the director at the same time.

In the summer of 1835, a strike at the Washington Navy Yard fueled a citywide race riot. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Francis Scott Key, set out to prosecute abolitionist Reuben Crandall for libelous sedition and the intent to incite a slave revolt. Freedom hung in the balance.

In the midst of this political turmoil, Daniel Bell convinced Mary's dying slaveholder, Robert Armstead, to emancipate Mary and the children. Two days later, Armstead died, and his widow Susan Armstead refused to honor the Bells' freedom.

She arranged to have Daniel secretly sold. Slave traders infiltrated the Navy Yard, captured an unsuspecting Bell on the shop floor, and dragged him in chains to the slave pen at the infamous Yellow House.

Daniel fought a desperate and expensive battle in court to win his own freedom and protect his family from Susan Armstead. When Mary and the children's freedom suits failed in the courts, the Bells attempted to escape enslavement, setting off for freedom on a schooner called The Pearl.

History Production Prime Video

Credits

Cast

Anthony Wilcox
Daniel Bell
Myeisha Essex
Mary Bell
Deborah Madick
Susan Armstead
Arista Jackson
Ann Bell
Darla Davenport
Lucy Bell
Don White
Robert Armstead
Wayne Matychuk
Francis Scott Key
John L. Shortt
Reuben Crandall
John Leonard Harris, Sr.
Doxology Narrator
Paul Kandarian
John J. Dermott
Rick Daniels
Joseph H. Bradley
Steve Kennevan
Richard Coxe
Colby Coash
Roger B. Taney
Melinda Simonsen
Ann Key Taney
Christian Velez
Constable H. B. Robertson
Daniel Nufer
Constable Madison Jeffers
Kimba Clemmons
Joe Thompson
Japrice Green
Worker #1
Malik Fortner
Worker #2
Shea Butler
Worker #3
Matthew Kischer
Witness
Jeff Porter
George Naylor
Kyle Ament
Judge William Cranch
Brenna Howell
Woman #1
Mary Rogers
Woman #2
Mary White
Woman #3
Katie Otten
Nurse
Tony A. Grizzel
Slave Trader #1
Patrick Lescarbeau
White Male Nurse #2
Jason Iannone
Slaveholder's Attorney
Joseph Palmateer
Juror
Larry Woods
Richard Butt
Randy Busch
Daniel Drayton
Jarod Cernousek
White Guard
Zahir Hill Jr.
Daniel Bell Jr.
Za'Maya Hill
Caroline Bell
Zamir Hill
George Bell
Zaria Hill
Catherine Bell
Kailyn Desir
Mary Ellen Bell
Arielle Desir
Eleanora Bell

Producers

Michael Burton
Executive Producer, Supervising Producer, Post-Production Supervisor, Lead VFX Artist
Kwakiutl L. Dreher
Executive Producer, Director, Writer
William G. Thomas III
Executive Producer, Director, Writer

Production

Western Meadowlark LLC
Film Production
Kaci Nash
Story, Historical Research, Website Development
Elijah Watson
Line Producer
Ben Hartzell
Director of Photography
Heather Striebel
Lead Costume Designer
Audrey Foster

Anna Kuhlman
Costume Design
Jordan Scribner
Animation Head
Sirrena Infiniti Holmes
3D Modeler
Warren Bable
Assistant Editor
Mackenzie Grell
Production Coordinator
Maya Peirce
Script Supervisor
Jesenia Jackson and Joseph Neidorf
Film Score

Humanities Advisors

Ed Baptist
Cornell University
Mary Beth Corrigan
Georgetown University
Aaron Johnson
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Jessica Marie Johnson
Johns Hopkins University
Ari Kelman
University of California Davis
Tamika Nunley
Oberlin College
Marcus Rediker
University of Pittsburgh
Adam Rothman
Georgetown University
Kidada E. Williams
Wayne State University

Funding and Support

Maryland Humanities Council
Background Production Funding
National Endowment for the Humanities
Major Support

Laurels for Official Selection, Prine George's Film Festival 2022

Laurels for Honorable Mention, Silk Road Film Awards Cannes