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<\/p>\nAt 95, Jones is one of the last living figures from King\u2019s inner circle, and the film offers a rare, intimate account of the civil rights movement from someone who helped shape some of its most iconic words.<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\u201cStephen\u2019s a first-time filmmaker and I\u2019ve made hundreds of short documentaries. And he also happens to be, you know, one of the greatest basketball players ever,\u201d chuckles Proudfoot, a two-time Oscar winner.<\/p>\n
They first connected over Proudfoot\u2019s \u201cThe Queen of Basketball,\u201d which won the Academy Award for best documentary short in 2021 and was executive produced by Curry.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a very clear idea of what stories of Clarence\u2019s he wanted to explore.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Golden State Warriors star met Jones years earlier in San Francisco, where the two struck up a friendship that evolved into a mentorship. What drew Curry in, Proudfoot says, was Jones\u2019s philosophy of choosing purpose over comfort \u2014 a theme that became central to the film.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s this incredible moment in Clarence\u2019s life where he leaves a lucrative job as a Hollywood lawyer to go work with Martin Luther King Jr. and his whole team in Alabama,\u201d Proudfoot says. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s kind of what the movie is about \u2014 the choice to live with purpose versus living comfortably and to challenge yourself to go do something that\u2019s worthwhile. I think that\u2019s something that really struck a chord with Stephen, and strikes a chord with me too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The film is structured around an extended conversation between Curry and Jones, shot at San Francisco\u2019s Mechanics\u2019 Institute Library. Using an Interrotron \u2014 a teleprompter-like device that reflects Curry\u2019s face into the camera lens \u2014 Jones speaks directly to the audience while actually making eye contact with Curry.<\/p>\n
Though it was Curry\u2019s first time directing, Proudfoot says the four-time NBA champion quickly found his footing behind the camera.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s extremely observant and very focused,\u201d Proudfoot says. \u201cI was explaining how I approach interviews, and I could tell that in addition to listening to me, he was also watching my hands, my movements. I realized there actually are a lot of gestural and physical things I do as a director in an interview that he helped me discover.\u201d<\/p>\n
Curry\u2019s perspective also helped unlock one of the film\u2019s most distinctive stylistic choices: hand-painted animation used to recreate Jones\u2019s memories.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s one moment in the film when Martin Luther King Jr. is delivering the \u2018I Have a Dream\u2019 speech and Clarence gives very specific details that are little known about that exact moment,\u201d Proudfoot says.<\/p>\n
Jones describes King scratching his leg with his other foot before delivering the speech\u2019s iconic refrain.<\/p>\n
\u201cStephen (envisioned) a way to move the camera around, almost like how a basketball game might be shot, where the perspective is freewheeling. That\u2019s what initially inspired the idea of animating a lot of these memories.\u201d<\/p>\n
The animation \u2014 created by Brazilian artist Daniel Bruson and composed of roughly 3,000 individual watercolour paintings \u2014 allows the film to move freely through history, offering what Proudfoot describes as \u201cinstant replays\u201d of pivotal moments.<\/p>\n
One of the film\u2019s most emotional scenes comes when Curry gently presses Jones to talk about his mother\u2019s death \u2014 a moment Proudfoot says only surfaced because of the trust between them.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes when people tell their life story, they gloss over the painful part,\u201d Proudfoot says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember Stephen coming back to that and asking him what it was like that day, what happened, really sort of going into that particular moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Proudfoot says the memory that emerged from the exchange became the \u201cemotional climax\u201d of the film.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was something about their existing friendship, relationship and mutual trust and respect that allowed for that to happen. The cameras disappeared, all the crew disappeared and it was just Stephen and Clarence having this conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Proudfoot believes Jones\u2019s story is especially relevant now, at a time when progress feels stalled and systemic change out of reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easy to fall into passivity and say, \u2018There\u2019s nothing I can do about it,’\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis movie is about the opposite \u2014 only you can solve some of these problems. I think Clarence\u2019s story is a call to anyone who feels that burning purpose within them to take up the torch and go do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Proudfoot\u2019s focus is now on Sundance \u2014 and possibly attending the film\u2019s premiere with Curry, who happens to be playing a game in nearby Salt Lake City during the festival<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s truly fateful,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he doesn\u2019t attend, I\u2019ll see him at the game, but it might work out.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Baddest Speechwriter of All\u201d has several in-person screenings at Sundance starting Friday, and online screenings between Jan. 29 and Feb. 2. <\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2026.<\/p>\n
Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At 95, Jones is one of the last living figures from King\u2019s inner circle, and the film offers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-428167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}