Based on real events and set in a small Texas town in the midst of the 2000 Bush/Gore Presidential election, "American Violet" tells the astonishing story of Dee Roberts (critically hailed newcomer Nicole Beharie), a 24 year old African-American single mother of four who is wrongfully swept up in a drug raid.

Despite the urgings of her mother (Academy Award® nominee Alfre Woodard), and with her freedom and the custody of her children at stake, she chooses to fight the powerful district attorney (Academy Award® nominee Michael O'Keefe) and the unyielding criminal justice system he represents. Joined in an unlikely alliance with an ACLU attorney (Tim Blake Nelson) and former local narcotics officer (Will Patton), Dee risks everything in a battle that forever changes her life, and the Texas justice system.

MOVIE REVIEW

In American Violet, Nicole Beharie makes a strong debut as Dee Roberts, an African-American single mother of four who finds her life turned upside down when she is falsely arrested for selling crack cocaine. After the chief D.A. offers her a plea deal in exchange for no jail time - versus a long, expensive court battle in which she could face years in prison away from her children, she becomes aware of a plot that involves racism and manipulation of the U.S. legal system.
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