The Book of Negroes miniseries to debut in Cannes in October

The Book of Negroes, the anticipated TV adaptation of the award-winning novel by Canadian writer Lawrence Hill, will have its premiere in Cannes on Thanksgiving Day.

The miniseries will debut at the Palais de Festivals in Cannes on Monday, October 13 as the opening night gala of the 30th annual MIPCOM television and entertainment festival, producers announced in Paris today.

Actors Aunjanue Ellis, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Lou Gossett Jr., screenwriter-director Clement Virgo and producer Damon D'Oliveira are slated to attend the premiere screening and participate in a Q&A afterwards.

The internationally co-produced, six-part miniseries recounts the story of an African woman named Aminata Diallo who is kidnapped from Africa and sold into slavery in the southern U.S. She later makes her way to Halifax and back to Africa and finally, to England at the turn of the 19th century.

Hamilton, Ont.-based writer Hill's 2007 novel, which was published in some countries under the title Someone Knows My Name, earned widespread praise.

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It sold nearly a million copies worldwide and also won a host of honours, including the Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, theCommonwealth Writers' Prizefor best overall book and the2009 edition of CBC's Canada Reads. It was alsoset to music by the Nathaniel Dett Choralein 2012.

The Book of Negroes will air on CBC-TV during the winter 2015 season.