Apple TV+ just dropped the trailer for “Sidney,” a new documentary from Oprah Winfrey that follows the life and impact of the late movie legend Sidney Poitier.
Set to premiere next month, the project is directed by Oscar nominee Reginald Hudlin. Per Deadline, the documentary takes a close look at the legend’s “legacy as an iconic actor, filmmaker and activist at the center of Hollywood and the Civil Rights Movement.” In addition to producing the project, Winfrey appears in the documentary detailing the Bahamian American’s upbringing, impact on the film industry and more.
The project also features, Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, Halle Berry and Morgan Freeman, who all speak to Poitier’s legacy and the impact he had on their lives. “It was the first time I had seen a Black man assert his power,” Berry states in the trailer. “I wanted to marry Sidney Poitier.”
In addition to detailing Poitier’s distinguished film career, the project dives deep into his civil rights work, and what it meant to be the first Black man to accomplish so much in the film industry as the country was in the middle of the civil rights movement. Civil rights leader Andrew Young states in the clip, “We’re hanging together by a few cultural threads, and Sidney Poitier is one of those cultural threads.” Lee adds, “It’s not easy being the first, when you have to represent an entire race.”
Poitier, as theGrio previously reported, passed away in January at the age of 94. The first Black man to ever win an Oscar, Poitier is known for his performances in films such as “Lilies of the Field” (1963), “To Sir, With Love” (1967) and “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” (1967). In addition to his trailblazing career as an actor, Poitier was an advocate for Black talent. He famously insisted the film crew for his 1969 film “The Lost Man” be “at least 50 percent African-American,” per his Kennedy Center bio.
Not only was Winfrey a fan of Poitier’s, she was also a close friend, something she detailed in her tribute post to him after he died. She wrote at the time, “For me, the greatest of the ‘Great Trees’ has fallen: Sidney Poitier. My honor to have loved him as a mentor. Friend. Brother. Confidant. Wisdom teacher. The utmost, highest regard and praise for his most magnificent, gracious, eloquent life. I treasured him. I adored him. He had an enormous soul I will forever cherish.”
Per Deadline, “Sidney” was made “in close collaboration” with the Poitier family. The project will drop Sept. 23 on Apple TV+.
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