Before his thirty-three years as US representative for Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District, the inimitable John Lewis was one of the leading figures of the civil rights movement. He organized lunch counter sit-ins in Nashville, participated in the Freedom Rides to fight segregation at bus terminals throughout the Southern states, was a keynote speaker at the 1963 March on Washington, served as chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, campaigned to register Black voters across the South, and co-led the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, that was attacked by state troopers on “Bloody Sunday.” Dawn Porter’s essential documentary combines rare archival footage with illuminating interviews and scenes of Lewis at work to chronicle his life and career, from Alabama cotton fields to Congress and to the campaign trail for candidates in the 2018 midterm elections. In an unguarded moment Lewis reveals his greatest fear, “that one day I’ll wake up and America’s democracy will be gone.” But he vows to keep on fighting: “As long as I have breath in my body, I’ll do what I can.”

—Kate MacKay

Immediately following the feature, there will be a pre-recorded discussion between Representative Lewis and Oprah Winfrey, filmed last month and being made available exclusively for virtual cinema and in-theater engagements of the film.