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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.

Changing the world... one word at a time.

Genres: Drama

Starring: Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett

Released: April 28, 2006

Runtime: 112.0

Popularity Rating: 5.052

2929 Productions, Cinema Gypsy Productions, Lions Gate Films, Out of the Blue... Entertainment, Starbucks Entertainment

United States of America

Akeelah Keke Palmer
Dr. Larabee Laurence Fishburne
Tanya Angela Bassett
Mr. Welch Curtis Armstrong
Javier J.R. Villarreal
Dylan Sean Michael Afable
Georgia Sahara Garey
Devon Lee Thompson Young
Terrence Julito McCullum
Kiana Erica Hubbard
Derrick-T Eddie Steeples
Ms. Cross Dalia Phillips
Mr. Chiu Tzi Ma
Steve Jeris Poindexter
Polly Sara Niemietz
Roman George Hornedo
Ted Saunders Craig Wasson
District Judge Jeff Marlow
Regional Judge Lee Garlington
Herself Katie Kerwin McCrimmon
Regional Pronouncer Sid Ganis
Cheating Boy Austin Herrera Davis
Cheating Boy's Mom Janet Borrus
Akeelah's Father Wolfgang Bodison
Volunteer Bonita Friedericy
Reporter Lauren Sanchez
Woman on TV Fay Hauser
Korean Grocer Jack Ong
Rajeev Subramonian Neil Soni

Art — Art Direction: Shelley A. Wallace
Art — Production Design: Warren Alan Young
Art — Set Decoration: Julieann Getman
Camera — Camera Operator: Chris Mosio
Camera — Camera Operator: Johnny Radzik
Camera — Director of Photography: M. David Mullen
Camera — Still Photographer: Saeed Adyani
Costume & Make-Up — Costume Supervisor: Riki Lin Sabusawa
Costume & Make-Up — Hair Department Head: Kenneth Walker
Costume & Make-Up — Makeup Department Head: Edna Sheen
Crew — Transportation Captain: Angel DeSanti
Crew — Transportation Captain: Kirk Huston
Directing — Director: Doug Atchison
Editing — Dialogue Editor: James Morioka
Editing — Editor: Glenn Farr
Production — Casting: Aisha Coley
Production — Casting: Jaki Brown
Production — Casting: Kim Coleman
Production — Producer: Nancy Hult Ganis
Production — Production Supervisor: Jennifer Booth
Sound — Boom Operator: Stacey A. Washer
Sound — Music Editor: Eduardo Ponsdomenech
Sound — Music Editor: Johnny Caruso
Sound — Music Supervisor: Joel C. High
Sound — Original Music Composer: Aaron Zigman
Sound — Sound Designer: Roland N. Thai
Sound — Sound mixer: Matthew Nicolay
Sound — Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Ken S. Polk
Sound — Supervising Sound Editor: Roland N. Thai
Writing — Writer: Doug Atchison