Andrew Heckler’s Burden premiered at Sundance over a year ago. It received mountains of praise at the festival but no studios picked it up for distribution. This week, however, David Glasser’s 101 Studios picked up the U.S. rights to the film and set a November 1st release date.
Burden tells the real-life story of Mike Burden. Burden was an orphan raised by the Ku Klux Klan who fell in love with a woman that convinced him to leave the hate group. The KKK obviously wasn’t happy with that and they went after Burden. However, an African-American pastor named Reverend Kennedy took the man in to protect him. Garrett Hedlund stars in the titular role while Forest Whitaker is set to play the Reverend. Usher also has a part in the film as a man named Clarence Brooks. Andrea Riseborough, Dexter Darden, Crystal R. Fox, Tess Harper, and Tom Wilkinson. all appear in the film as well.
Writer/Director Andrew Heckler spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the film. “Even though it was written over 20 years ago, unfortunately, Burden is more timely than ever. Now in a time when the world has become so polarized and divided by ethnicity, race, and religion, Burden can deliver a powerful message of how extremes can join together to overcome and resolve our differences and hatred through love and tolerance.”
