Down in the Delta (1998)

 

Release date: December 25, 1998

Director: Maya Angelou

Writer: Myron Goble

Starring: Alfre Woodard, Mary Alice, Wesley Snipes

U.S. Box office: $5.6 million

 

Sinclair family matriarch Rosa Lynn (Mary Alice) raises enough money to help her two grandchildren and drug-addicted adult daughter, Loretta (Alfre Woodard), move to a small Mississippi town in order to escape the dangers of inner-city Chicago. There, Loretta and her kids are taken in by her gruff uncle, Earl (Al Freeman Jr.), who attempts to instill a work ethic and sense of history in his niece. With the help of Earl's tough love, Loretta does her best to put her past demons behind her.

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