A possible contender for an Oscar nomination this year, Brother Minister caused quite a stir last year when Betty Shabazz (Malcolm X's widow) accused Louis Farrakhan of the murder of her husband in an interview with WNBC-TV's Gabe Pressman. Shabazz had just been shown a clip from Brother Minister in which Nation of Islam leader Farrakhan essentially boasts that the NOI killed the "traitor." But after a strong showing at Cannes and other film festivals and glowing reviews from Charles Champlin and Kevin Thomas, among other major critics, Brother Minister is still a film looking for a national distributor. Directed by Jack Baxter, and co-written by Jefri Aalmuhammed (consultant to Spike Lee on his Malcolm X), the film weaves together interviews with key members of the NOI, Elijah Muhammed's son W. Deen, New York Post columnist Jack Newfield, attorney William Kunstler and Gene Roberts, one of Malcolm X's bodyguards who was also an undercover NYPD agent. Like the controversy surrounding the Kennedy assassination, the death of Malcolm X raises more questions than it answers and Brother Minister boldly tackles the issues of possible F.B.I. involvement, the suggested innocence of two of the three gunmen convicted of the slaying, and the myriad of inconsistencies and puzzles concerning the details, large and small, of the official version of what happened on February 21, 1965 in Harlem's Audubon Ballroom. Much of the story is in the fascinating history of the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X's stormy relationship with Elijah Muhammed and his followers. Sure to be controversial, Brother Minister is a bold, provocative, and doggedly investigative film that will shock some people, anger others, but interest anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the subject. An excellent companion piece to Malcolm X--Make It Plain (VL-5/94). Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)
Brother Minister: The Assassination Of Malcolm X
(1994) 115 min. $399. X-ceptional Productions. PPR. Color cover. Vol. 10, Issue 1
Brother Minister: The Assassination Of Malcolm X
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: