Freedom Writers

Freedom Writers is a 2007  drama  film starring Hilary Swank, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton and Patrick Dempsey. It is based on the book The Freedom Writers Diary by teacher Erin Gruwell who wrote the story based on Woodrow Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach, California. The title is a play on the term “Freedom Riders”, referring to black and white civil rights activists who tested the U.S. Supreme Court decision ordering the desegregation  of interstate buses in 1961.

The idea for the film came from journalist Tracey Durning, who made a documentary about Erin Gruwell for the News program Primetime Live. Durning served as co-executive producer of the film.