I had the privilege last Friday night to be invited to a private screening with Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman at the Varsity Theatre on Bloor. It was absolutely an incredible experience not only to meet him but to see the fascinating work he has done on this film, and the changes he has made in peoples lives.

In 1997, Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman offered to pay for the senior prom at Charleston High School in his Mississippi home town under one condition: the prom had to be racially integrated. His offer was ignored. In 2008, Freeman offered again. This time the school board accepted, and history was made. Charleston High School has its first ever integrated prom  - in 2008.

Prom Night in Mississippi tells the story of how Freeman's generosity fans the flames of racism - and racism in Charleston has a distinctly generational tinge, as some white parents forbid their children to attend the integrated prom.

Prom Night in Mississippi captures a big moment in a small town, where hope finally blossoms in black, white, and a whole lot of taffeta.

This film marks the feature directing debut of Paul Saltzman, a two-time Emmy Award-winning television and film producer-director with 300 productions to his credit. A published auther and photographer, Saltzman's most recent book is The Beatles in India. Once of his formative experiences was volunteering as a civil rights worker in 1965 with the Student Non-Violent Cooridinating Commitee - in Mississippi.

Since 2008 they have continued the new tradition of the integrated prom, and hopefully his is a move beyond the previous prejudice.