Ben Kingsley
Featuring Keira Knightley, Sir Ben Kingsley, Ian McKellen,
Noel Clarke, Rupert Everett, Kelly Macdonald, Joss Stone and more...
The People Speak is a documentary film based on the book ‘A People’s History of the United States’ by Howard Zinn which was produced in association with History™ in the US. The film was executive produced by Matt Damon and Josh Brolin, featuring a group of remarkable musicians and actors including Damon and Brolin, as well Bob Dylan, Danny Glover, Bruce Springsteen, John Legend and many more.
This year The People Speak and HISTORY™ UK have teamed up to create a unique British version for the British public, with a remarkable cast of the UK’s leading actors and musicians, bringing to life the poems, letters, songs and speeches highlighting significant moments in our history from the perspective of ordinary, everyday people.
The event, directed by BAFTA-award winning actor Colin Firth, took place at The Prince of Wales Theatre on September 19th and will be broadcast on October 31st 9pm, as an exclusive documentary to HISTORY™.
Some of the celebrated artists joining Colin Firth include Sir Ben Kingsley, Ian McKellen, Rupert Everett, Benjamin Zephaniah, Noel Clarke, Omid Djalili, Colin Salmon, Laura Marling, Stephen Rea, Juliet Stevenson, Saffron Burrows and Mark Steel.
Speaking about the project Colin Firth said: “To me THE PEOPLE SPEAK is the perfect response to the abject misery of my history class as a school boy. Considering the immense riches that history offers us in terms of the best and worst of human behaviour – corruption, sexual deviation, rebellion, struggles for power – none of that made it into my history lessons. There is absolutely no reason why history should be dry and I’m delighted to be working with HISTORY on an initiative that takes history beyond the classroom; democratising our own legacy and providing a unique voice that resonates as much today as it did when it was first spoken.”