Anthony Mackie has set his feature directorial debut with Spark. The drama will star Saniyya Sidney as Claudette Colvin, an unsung pioneer of the Civil Rights era. Sidney is coming off a breakout performance as Venus Williams in King Richard. Mackie is producing with Kellon Akeem, Jason Michael Berman and Marc Ambrose.

Colvin was 15-years-old when she bravely stood up to racism, getting arrested after refusing to give up her seat on a crowded segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. This was nine months before Rosa Parks became a symbol of the Civil Rights era symbol for courageously doing essentially the same thing. Initially embraced by Civil Rights leaders for her courage, Colvin was brushed out of history when those same civic leaders decided a poor, dark-skinned teenage girl would not be the ideal face for their public campaign. The film will be a co-production between Make it with Gravy Productions, Mansa Productions, Mandalay Pictures in Association with Ambergreen Entertainment. Niceole R. Levy, who worked with Mackie on The Banker, is writing it. The filmmakers have the life rights of Colvin and are working with her family. They’ve also secured rights to Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose. [Source]