Airdate: Bessie

Later this month the Showcase channel will air HBO telemovie Bessie, starring Queen Latifah as American blues singer Bessie Smith.

It also features Mo’Nique, Oliver Platt and Charles S. Dutton. The drama today won the Telemovie award at the US Critics Choice Awards.

This aired in the US in May.

Queen Latifah stars as legendary blues singer Bessie Smith in this HBO original film. The film focuses on Smith’s transformation from a struggling young singer into “The Empress of the Blues,” who became one of the most successful recording artists of the 1920s and is an enduring icon today. Bessie also stars Michael Kenneth Williams, Khandi Alexander, Mike Epps, Tika Sumpter, Tory Kittles, Oliver Platt, Bryan Greenberg, with Charles S. Dutton and Mo’Nique.

Saturday June 20 at 8.30pm on Showcase.