One of the many films to world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was writer-director Krystin Ver Linden’s Alice. Led by a fantastic performance from Keke Palmer, the film is about a woman (Palmer) enslaved on a 19th-century plantation in Georgia, who escapes only to discover that it’s actually 1973. The film is inspired by true accounts and also stars Jonny Lee Miller, Common, Gaius Charles, and Alicia Witt.

Shortly after seeing the film, I spoke with Keke Palmer, Krystin Ver Linden, and producer Peter Lawson. They talked about what the film is about, how Ver Linden found the material to base the story on, what she learned about writing and directing from working for Quentin Tarantino for so many years, what people would be surprised to learn about the making of the film, why they decided Pam Grier’s Coffy would be the film the characters watch in the film and what Grier means to them, why they each wanted to tell this story, and more. In addition, Palmer talks about how she prepares for a big scene and her parents reaction when she told them she wanted to become an actor.

keke-palmer-common-alice
Image via Roadside Attractions

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Watch what they had to say in the player above. Alice will open in theaters in North America on March 18 via Roadside Attractions.

Keke Palmer, Krystin Ver Linden, and Peter Lawson

  • What was Keke’s parents rection when she said she wanted to be an actor?
  • How have they been describing the movie?
  • What did Ver Linden learn from working for Quentin Tarantino for so many years?
  • Ver Linden explains why you should always be standing by your camera operator on set.
  • Lawson talks about why he wanted to be involved in the project.
  • How did Palmer find out about the script and material?
  • What was Palmer’s reaction after reading the script?
  • How they sold the film before the Sundance premiere and if they debated waiting till after it played at the festival.
  • Did they have any other titles besides Alice?
  • How does Palmer typically prepare for a big scene?
  • How did Ver Linden find the material to base this story on?
  • Why she wanted the story to take place in the early ‘70s.
  • What would surprise people to learn about the making of the film?
  • How did Ver Linden figure out how much time to spend on the plantation and then in the ‘70s?
  • Why did they decide Pam Grier’s Coffy would be the film the characters watch in the film and what Grier means to them.
alice movie image keke palmer common
Image via Sundance

Here's the official Alice synopsis:

Alice (Keke Palmer) yearns for freedom as an enslaved person on a rural Georgia plantation under its brutal and disturbed owner Paul (Jonny Lee Miller). After a violent clash with Paul, she flees through the neighboring woods and stumbles onto the unfamiliar sight of a highway, soon discovering the year is actually 1973. Rescued on the roadside by a disillusioned political activist named Frank (Common), Alice quickly comprehends the lies that have kept her in bondage and the promise of Black liberation. Inspired by true accounts, Alice is a modern empowerment fable tracing Alice’s journey through the post-Civil Rights Era American South.

alice keke palmer
Image via Sundance