Eleven year-old Akeelah Anderson's life is not easy: her father is dead, her mom ignores her, her brother runs with the local gangbangers. She's smart, but her environment threatens to strangle her aspirations. Responding to a threat by her school's principal, Akeelah participates in a spelling bee to avoid detention for her many absences. Much to her surprise and embarrassment, she wins. Her principal asks her to seek coaching from an English professor named Dr. Larabee for the more prestigious regional bee. As the possibility of making it all the way to the Scripps National Spelling Bee looms, Akeelah could provide her community with someone to rally around and be proud of -- but only if she can overcome her insecurities and her distracting home life. She also must get past Dr. Larabee's demons, and a field of more experienced and privileged fellow spellers.
Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Curtis Armstrong, J.R. Villarreal, Sean Michael Afable, Sahara Garey, Lee Thompson Young, Julito McCullum, Erica Hubbard, Eddie Steeples, Dalia Phillips, Tzi Ma, Jeris Poindexter, Sara Niemietz, George Hornedo, Craig Wasson, Jeff Marlow, Lee Garlington, Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, Sid Ganis, Austin Herrera Davis, Janet Borrus, Wolfgang Bodison, Bonita Friedericy, Lauren Sánchez, Fay Hauser, Jack Ong, Neil Soni
Producer
Laurence Fishburne, Nancy Hult Ganis, Danny Llewelyn
