Editing Mississippi Burning

{{Short description|1988 American crime thriller film by Alan Parker}}
{{About|the film|the event and FBI case file this film is based on|Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner|the song|Building a Better ______}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Good article}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Mississippi Burning
| image          = Mississippi Burning.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Alan Parker]]
| producer       = {{plainlist|
* [[Frederick Zollo]]
* [[Robert F. Colesberry]]
}}
| writer         = [[Chris Gerolmo]]
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Gene Hackman]]
* [[Willem Dafoe]]
}}
| music          = [[Trevor Jones (composer)|Trevor Jones]]
| cinematography = [[Peter Biziou]]
| editing        = [[Gerry Hambling|Gerald Hambling]]
| distributor    = [[Orion Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1988|12|2|[[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]|1988|12|9|United States}}
| runtime        = 128 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $15 million
| gross          = $34.6 million<ref name="BoxOfficeMojo">{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mississippiburning.htm|title=Mississippi Burning (1988)|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=October 26, 2014|archive-date=October 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009215806/http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mississippiburning.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

'''''Mississippi Burning''''' is a 1988 American [[crime thriller]] film directed by [[Alan Parker]] and written by [[Chris Gerolmo]] that is loosely based on the 1964 investigation into the deaths of [[murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner|Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner]] in [[Mississippi]]. It stars [[Gene Hackman]] and [[Willem Dafoe]] as two [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agents investigating the disappearance of three civil rights workers in fictional Jessup County, Mississippi, who are met with hostility by the town's residents, local police, and the [[Ku Klux Klan]].

Gerolmo began writing the script in 1986 after researching the 1964 murders of [[James Chaney]], [[Andrew Goodman (activist)|Andrew Goodman]] and [[Michael Schwerner]]. He and producer [[Frederick Zollo]] presented it to [[Orion Pictures]], and the studio hired Parker to direct. The writer and director had disputes over the script, and Orion allowed Parker to make uncredited rewrites. The film was shot in a number of locations in Mississippi and [[Alabama]], with [[principal photography]] from March to May 1988.

On release, ''Mississippi Burning'' was criticized by activists involved in the [[civil rights movement]] and the families of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner for its fictionalization of events. Critical reaction was generally positive, with praise aimed towards the cinematography and the performances of Hackman, Dafoe and [[Frances McDormand]]. The film grossed $34.6 million in North America against a production budget of $15 million. It received seven [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominations, including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], and won for [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]].

==Plot==
<!-- Please see WP:FILMPLOT before editing. The plot summary is recommended to be between 400-700 words. -->
In 1964, three civil rights workers – two Jewish and one black – went missing while they were in fictional Jessup County, Mississippi (the actual events took place in [[Neshoba County]]), organizing a voter registry for [[African Americans]]. The FBI sends Alan Ward and Rupert Anderson to investigate. Ward is a Northerner, senior in rank but much younger than Anderson, and approaches the investigation by the book. In contrast, Anderson, a former sheriff in Mississippi, is more nuanced in his approach. The pair find it difficult to conduct interviews with the local townspeople, as Sheriff Ray Stuckey and his deputies influence the public and are linked to a branch of the [[Ku Klux Klan]].

With the help of the son of a local pastor, the FBI is finally able to bring forward a witness who saw Klansmen firebomb a house, and three white men are arrested and tried for felony arson. A local judge, however, gives the men a token suspended sentence while deriding the FBI as "outside agitators" who provoked the men to violence. He then releases the men, who promptly hang the witness's father and attempt to kill the witness. The FBI evacuates the family to the north and realizes they will receive no help at all from local authorities.

Meanwhile, Anderson has developed a close relationship with the wife of Deputy Sheriff Clinton Pell, who, in a tearful confession, reveals to Anderson that the three missing men have been murdered by her husband and his Klansmen accomplices, who then buried the bodies in an [[Embankment dam|earthen dam]]. After the bodies are discovered, revealing to the nation that the disappearance of the civil rights workers was murder, Pell brutally beats his wife for her betrayal.

Ward and Anderson's different approaches spill over into a physical fight, which ends with Ward pulling a gun and admitting he concedes that his methods have been ineffective, and he gives Anderson carte blanche authorization to deal with the problem in his way. Anderson devises a plan to indict members of the Klan for [[Civil and political rights|civil rights]] violations instead of [[murder]], because civil rights violations are federal crimes for which conviction is more certain than state-level charges of murder. The FBI arranges the kidnapping of Mayor Tilman, taking him to a remote shack, where he is left with a black man who threatens to castrate him unless he speaks out. Tilman gives him a complete description of the killings, including the names of those involved. The abductor is revealed to be an FBI operative who has been assigned to intimidate Tilman. Although the obtained information is inadmissible in court because it was obtained through coercion, it still proves valuable to the investigators.

Anderson and Ward concoct a plan, luring identified Klan collaborators to a bogus meeting. Still, the men soon realize that they have been set up, and they leave the fake meeting without discussing the murders. The FBI then concentrates on Lester Cowens, a Klansman of interest who exhibits a nervous demeanor, which the agents believe might yield a confession. The Feds pick him up and interrogate him. Anderson stages a tussle with Pell at the local barbershop in retaliation for the attack on his wife and takes off. Later, Cowens is at home when a shotgun blast shatters his windows. After seeing a [[burning cross]] on his lawn, he attempts to flee in his truck but is caught by several hooded men who intend to hang him. The team arrives to rescue him, having staged the entire scene where the hooded men are revealed to be other FBI agents.

Cowens, believing that his [[redneck]] brothers have threatened his life because of his admissions to the FBI, finally incriminates his accomplices. The Klansmen are charged with civil rights violations. Most of the perpetrators are convicted and sentenced to 3–10 years in prison, while Sheriff Stuckey is acquitted. The FBI later finds Tilman has hanged himself, and Bird wonders why. Ward tells him Tilman was guilty, for being a witness. Mrs. Pell returns to her home, which vandals have completely ransacked. She resolves to stay and rebuild her life, free of her husband. Before they leave town, Anderson and Ward visit an integrated congregation, gathered at an African American cemetery, where the black civil rights activist's desecrated gravestone reads, "Not Forgotten."

==Cast==
<!--- [[WP:NOTDATABASE]] - cast and order per Main Cast [[Motion picture credits#Opening credits]], roles per closing credits scroll --->
{{cast listing|
* [[Gene Hackman]] as FBI Agent Rupert Anderson (based on [[John Proctor (FBI agent)|John Proctor]])<ref name="Parker" /><ref name="Peoplemag">{{cite news |last1=McWhorter |first1=Diane |title=Since Mississippi Burned |url=https://people.com/archive/since-mississippi-burned-vol-31-no-1/ |access-date=5 February 2025 |work=[[People (magazine)|People]] |date=January 9, 1989 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407194012/https://people.com/archive/since-mississippi-burned-vol-31-no-1/ |archive-date=April 7, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Willem Dafoe]] as FBI Agent Alan Ward (based on [[Joseph Sullivan (FBI agent)|Joseph Sullivan]])<ref>{{cite web |last1=Andrews |first1=Candice Gaukel |title=The Code-Breaker and the G-Man — Part 2 |url=http://waa.uwalumni.com/onwisconsin/winter02/code2.html |website=On Wisconsin |access-date=5 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721052139/http://waa.uwalumni.com/onwisconsin/winter02/code2.html |archive-date=July 21, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Bailey>{{cite book |editor1-last=Bailey |editor1-first=Frankie Y. |editor2-last=Chermak |editor2-first=Steven |title=Crime and Trials of the 20th Century |date=2007 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1573569736 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XRjOEAAAQBAJ |page=[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Crimes_and_Trials_of_the_Century/XRjOEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA262 262] |access-date=5 February 2025}}</ref>
* [[Frances McDormand]] as Mrs. Pell (based on [[Cecil Price|Conner Price]])<ref name="Tunzelmann">{{cite news |last1=von Tunzelmann |first1=Alex |title=Mississippi Burning: a civil rights story of good intentions and suspect politics |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/apr/10/reel-history-mississippi-burning |access-date=5 February 2025 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=10 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007113711/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/apr/10/reel-history-mississippi-burning |archive-date=7 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Brad Dourif]] as Deputy Sheriff Clinton Pell (based on [[Cecil Price]])<ref name=Bailey/>
* [[R. Lee Ermey]] as Mayor Tilman (based on Abner Davis "Ab" Harbour)
* [[Gailard Sartain]] as Ray Stuckey, Sheriff of Jessup County (based on [[Lawrence A. Rainey]])<ref name="Spokane" />
* [[Stephen Tobolowsky]] as Clayton Townley (based on [[Samuel Bowers]])
* [[Michael Rooker]] as Frank Bailey (based on [[Alton Wayne Roberts]])<ref>{{cite news |title=Alton Wayne Roberts, right punches CBS cameraman Laurens Pierce outside the Federal Building in Meridian, Miss., Jan. 27, 1965. |url=http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-Domestic-News-Mississippi-Unit-/7e3d82e2c3e3da11af9f0014c2589dfb |access-date=5 February 2025 |work=AP Newsroom |date=February 1, 2006}}</ref>
* [[Pruitt Taylor Vince]] as Lester Cowens (based on [[Jimmy Snowden]])
* Stephen Bridgewater as Wesley Cooke
* [[Badja Djola]] as FBI Agent Monk 
* [[Kevin Dunn]] as FBI Agent Bird
* [[Frankie Faison]] as Eulogist
* [[Darius McCrary]] as Aaron, Eulogist's Son
* [[Tobin Bell]] as FBI Agent Stokes
}}

==Historical context==
{{Main|Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner|United States v. Price}}
[[File:FBI Poster of Missing Civil Rights Workers.jpg|thumb|right|Missing persons poster created by the FBI in 1964, showing the photographs of civil rights workers Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner.]]

On June 21, 1964, civil rights workers [[James Chaney]], [[Andrew Goodman (activist)|Andrew Goodman]] and [[Michael Schwerner]] were arrested in [[Philadelphia, Mississippi]], by Deputy Sheriff [[Cecil Price]], and taken to a [[Neshoba County, Mississippi|Neshoba County]] jail.<ref name="FBI50">{{cite web|title=FBI — 50 Years Since Mississippi Burning|url=https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/june/50-years-since-mississippi-burning/50-years-since-mississippi-burning|website=FBI.gov|access-date=May 23, 2016|archive-date=June 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624144221/https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/june/50-years-since-mississippi-burning/50-years-since-mississippi-burning|url-status=live}}</ref> The three men worked on the "[[Freedom Summer]]" campaign, attempting to organize a voter registry for African Americans.<ref>{{cite web|title="Mississippi Burning" murders resonate 50 years later - CBS News|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mississippi-burning-murders-resonate-50-years-later/|first=Stephen|last=Smith|date=June 20, 2014|work=[[CBS News]]|access-date=May 23, 2016|archive-date=May 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510165733/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mississippi-burning-murders-resonate-50-years-later/|url-status=live}}</ref> Price charged Chaney with speeding and held the other two men for questioning.<ref name="FBI50" /> He released the three men on bail seven hours later and followed them out of town.<ref name="MurderTrial">{{cite web|title=The Murders and Trial - Mississippi Burning Part 2|url=http://crime.about.com/od/history/p/ms_burn2.htm|website=About.com|first=Charles|last=Montado|access-date=May 23, 2016|archive-date=May 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522203529/http://crime.about.com/od/history/p/ms_burn2.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="OnThisDay">{{cite web|title=Slain civil rights workers found - Aug 04, 1964 - HISTORY.com|url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/slain-civil-rights-workers-found|website=[[History (Canada)|History Television Channel]]|date=February 9, 2010 |access-date=May 23, 2016|archive-date=May 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513014424/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/slain-civil-rights-workers-found|url-status=live}}</ref> After Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner failed to return to [[Meridian, Mississippi]], on time, workers for the [[Congress of Racial Equality]] (CORE) placed calls to the Neshoba County jail, asking if the police had any information on their whereabouts.<ref>{{cite web|title=The 'Mississippi Burning' Case - Civil Rights Movement|url=http://crime.about.com/od/history/p/ms_burn.htm|website=About.com|first=Charles|last=Montado|access-date=May 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326135021/http://crime.about.com/od/history/p/ms_burn.htm|archive-date=March 26, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Two days later, FBI agent [[John Proctor (FBI agent)|John Proctor]] and ten other agents began their investigation in Neshoba County. They received a tip about a burning CORE station wagon seen in the woods off [[Mississippi Highway 21|Highway 21]], about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia. The investigation was given the code name "MIBURN" (short for "Mississippi Burning"),<ref name="FactFiction">{{cite news |last=King |first=Wayne |date=December 4, 1988 |title=FILM; Fact vs. Fiction in Mississippi |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/04/movies/film-fact-vs-fiction-in-mississippi.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601124016/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/04/movies/film-fact-vs-fiction-in-mississippi.html |archive-date=June 1, 2016 |access-date=April 29, 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=FBI — Mississippi Burning (MIBURN) Case|work=FBI |url=https://vault.fbi.gov/Mississippi%20Burning%20(MIBURN)%20Case|publisher=FBI.gov|access-date=May 8, 2016|archive-date=April 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414052251/https://vault.fbi.gov/Mississippi%20Burning%20%28MIBURN%29%20Case|url-status=live}}</ref> and top FBI inspectors were sent to help with the case.<ref name="FBI50" />

On August 4, 1964, the bodies of the three men were found after an informant nicknamed "Mr. X" in FBI reports passed along a tip to federal authorities.<ref name="OnThisDay"/><ref>{{cite journal|title=Murder in Mississippi|first=Don|last=Whitehead|date=September 1970|journal=Reader's Digest|page=214}}</ref> They were discovered underneath an earthen dam on a 253-acre farm located a few miles outside Philadelphia, Mississippi.<ref>{{cite book|title=Hoover's F. B. I.: The Inside Story by Hoover's Trusted Lieutenant|first=Cartha |last=DeLoach|author-link=Cartha DeLoach|publisher=Regnery Publishing, Inc.|edition=First|date=June 25, 1995|isbn=978-0-89526-479-4|url=https://archive.org/details/hooversfbiinside00delo_0}}</ref> All three men had been shot.<ref name="MurderTrial" /> Nineteen suspects were the subject of a federal indictment for violating the workers' civil rights.<ref name="OnThisDay" /> On October 27, 1967, a federal trial conducted in Meridian resulted in only seven of the defendants, including Price, being convicted with sentences ranging from three to ten years. Nine were acquitted, and the jury [[Impasse|deadlocked]] on three others.<ref name="MurderTrial" />

==Production==

===Development===
In 1985, screenwriter [[Chris Gerolmo]] discovered an article that excerpted a chapter from the book ''Inside Hoover's F.B.I.'', which chronicled the FBI's investigation into the murders of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner.<ref name="Gerolmo">{{cite web|title=Mississippi Burning, Reconsidered|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-gerolmo/mississippi-burning-reconsidered_b_4859179.html|first=Chris|last=Gerolmo|author-link=Chris Gerolmo|date=February 26, 2014|work=[[Huffington Post]]|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=April 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416171532/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-gerolmo/mississippi-burning-reconsidered_b_4859179.html|url-status=live}}</ref> While writing a draft script, Gerolmo brought it to producer [[Frederick Zollo]], who worked with him on ''[[Miles from Home]]'' (1988).<ref name="Empire">{{cite web|title=Classic Feature: Mississippi Burning|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/empire-mississippi-burning/|first=Patrick|last=Goldstein|date=June 1989|work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=September 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924031515/http://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/empire-mississippi-burning/|url-status=live}}</ref> Zollo helped Gerolmo develop the original draft before they sold it to [[Orion Pictures]].<ref name="ProdNotes">{{cite web|title=Mississippi Burning - Alan Parker - Director, Writer, Producer - Official Website|url=http://alanparker.com/film/mississippi-burning/making/|first=Alan|last=Parker|author-link=Alan Parker|publisher=AlanParker.com|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=June 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601063513/http://alanparker.com/film/mississippi-burning/making/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The studio then began its search for a director. Filmmakers [[Miloš Forman]] and [[John Schlesinger]] were among those considered.<ref name="Empire"/> In September 1987, [[Alan Parker]] was given a copy of Gerolmo's script by Orion's executive vice president and co-founder [[Mike Medavoy]].<ref name="ProdNotes" /> When Parker traveled to Tokyo, Japan, to act as a juror for the 1987 [[Tokyo International Film Festival]], his colleague [[Robert F. Colesberry]] began researching the time period, and compiled books, newspaper articles, live news footage and photographs related to the 1964 murders.<ref name="Parker">{{cite book|first1=David F. Jr. |last1=Gonthier |first2=Timothy L. |last2=O'Brien|title=The Films of Alan Parker, 1976–2003|date=May 2015|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|location = United States|chapter=9. ''Mississippi Burning'', 1988 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=9S-SCgAAQBAJ&lpg=PR4&pg=PA162 162–182]|isbn=978-0-7864-9725-6}}</ref><ref name="BurningTruth">{{cite magazine|title=The Burning Truth|last=Ressner|first=Jeffrey|author-link=Jeffrey Ressner|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=November 17, 1988|volume=539|pages=45–46|location=United States}}</ref> Upon returning to the United States, Parker met with Colesberry in New York and spent several months viewing the research.<ref name="ProdNotes" /><ref name="BurningTruth" /> The director also began selecting the creative team; the production reunited Parker with many of his past collaborators, including Colesberry, [[Casting (performing arts)|casting directors]] Howard Feuer and Juliet Taylor, [[cinematographer|director of photography]] [[Peter Biziou]], [[film editing|editor]] [[Gerry Hambling]], [[costume design]]er Aude Bronson-Howard, [[production designer]] [[Geoffrey Kirkland]], [[camera operator]] Michael Roberts, and [[Musical composition|music composer]] [[Trevor Jones (composer)|Trevor Jones]].<ref name="ProdNotes" /><ref name="CastCrew">{{cite web|url=http://wwwdb.oscars.org:8100/servlet/impc.DisplayCredits?vetted=T&primekey_in=2000051109:34:011578369 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912192902/http://wwwdb.oscars.org:8100/servlet/impc.DisplayCredits?vetted=T&primekey_in=2000051109:34:011578369 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 12, 2007 |title=Index to Motion Picture Credits - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |website=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=May 11, 2016 }}</ref>

===Writing===
Gerolmo described his original draft script as "a big, passionate, violent detective story set against the greatest sea-change in American life in the 20th century, the civil rights movement".<ref name="Gerolmo" /> For legal reasons, the names of the people and certain details related to the FBI's investigation were changed.<ref name="FactFiction" /> On presenting Clinton Pell's wife as an informant, Gerolmo said, "...&nbsp;the fact that no one knew who Mr. X, the informant, was, left that as a dramatic possibility for me, in my Hollywood movie version of the story. That's why Mr. X became the wife of one of the conspirators."<ref name="FactFiction" /> The abductor of Mayor Tilman was originally written as a [[American Mafia|Mafia]] hitman who forces a confession by putting a pistol in Tilman's mouth. Gerolmo was inspired by [[Gregory Scarpa]], a mob enforcer allegedly recruited by the FBI during their search for Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/31/usa.international|title=FBI used mafia capo to find bodies of Ku Klux Klan victims|last=MacAskill|first=Ewan|date=October 31, 2007|work=[[The Guardian]]|publisher=[[Guardian Media Group|Guardian News and Media Ltd.]]|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=June 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602005524/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/31/usa.international|url-status=live}}</ref>

After Parker was hired to direct the film, Gerolmo had completed two drafts.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> Parker met with Gerolmo at Orion's offices in [[Century City, Los Angeles]], where they began work on a third draft script. Both the writer and director, however, had repeated disagreements over the focus of the story. To resolve the issue, Orion executives in New York gave Parker one month to make uncredited rewrites before [[green-light]]ing the project.<ref name="ProdNotes" />

Parker made several changes from Gerolmo's original draft. He omitted the Mafia hitman and created the character Agent Monk, a black FBI specialist who kidnaps Tilman.<ref name="FactFiction" /> The scene in which Frank Bailey brutally beats a news cameraman was based on an actual event; Parker and Colesberry were inspired by a news outtake found during their research, in which a [[CBS News]] cameraman was assaulted by a suspect in the 1964 murder case.<ref name="Empire" /> Parker also wrote a sex scene involving Rupert Anderson and Mrs. Pell. The scene was omitted during filming after [[Gene Hackman]], who portrays Anderson, suggested to Parker that the relationship between the two characters be more discreet.<ref name="Empire" /><ref name="FilmComment">{{cite magazine|title=Brian Interview: Gene Hackman|url=http://www.filmcomment.com/article/interview-gene-hackman/|first=Clifford|last=Terry|date=September 9, 1990|magazine=Film Comment|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=June 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601091708/http://www.filmcomment.com/article/interview-gene-hackman/|url-status=live}}</ref> By January 4, 1988, Parker had written a complete shooting script, which he submitted to Orion executives.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> Gerolmo did not visit the production during [[principal photography]], due to the [[1988 Writers Guild of America strike]].<ref name="Parker" />

===Casting===
{{multiple image
   | direction = vertical
   | width     = 170
   | footer    = Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe, who star in the film.
   | image1    = Gene Hackman 1987.jpg
   | image2    = Willem Dafoe Cannes.jpg
}}
Parker held casting calls in New York, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Orlando, New Orleans, Raleigh and Nashville.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> The filmmakers did not retain the names of actual people; many of the supporting characters were [[composite character|composites]] of people related to the murder case.<ref name="FactFiction" /> Gene Hackman plays Rupert Anderson, an FBI agent and former Mississippi sheriff.<ref name="Parker" /> [[Brian Dennehy]] was briefly considered for the role<ref>{{cite web|title=Brian Dennehy's Quest|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/09/09/brian-dennehys-quest/|first=Clifford|last=Terry|date=September 9, 1990|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=June 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602044236/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-09-09/entertainment/9003150692_1_bull-cherry-orchard-extreme-prejudice|url-status=live}}</ref> before Orion suggested Hackman.<ref name="Parker" /> As the script was being written, Parker frequently discussed the project with Hackman.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> Hackman said that "it felt right to do something of historical import. It was an extremely intense experience, both the content of the film and the making of it in Mississippi."<ref name="FilmComment" />

Orion was less resolute in terms of who they wanted for the role of Agent Alan Ward. After filming ''[[The Last Temptation of Christ (film)|The Last Temptation of Christ]]'' (1988), [[Willem Dafoe]] expressed interest in playing Ward,<ref name="Parker" /> and Parker traveled to Los Angeles, where he met with the actor to discuss the role. Dafoe was cast shortly thereafter.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> To prepare for the role, Dafoe researched the time period and Neshoba County. He also read [[Willie Morris]]'s 1983 novel ''The Courting of Marcus Dupree'', and looked at 1960s documentary footage detailing how the media covered the murder case.<ref>{{cite web|title=Provocative Dafoe Prefers His Film Roles Served Hot|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1989/01/17/provocative-dafoe-prefers-his-film-roles-served-hot/|first=Harold|last=Reynolds|date=January 17, 1989|work=[[Orlando Sentinel]]|access-date=May 1, 2016|archive-date=June 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602050521/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1989-01-17/lifestyle/8901180104_1_mississippi-burning-dafoe-temptation-of-christ|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Frances McDormand]] plays Mrs. Pell, the wife of Deputy Sheriff Clinton Pell. On working with Hackman, McDormand said: "''Mississippi Burning'', I didn't do research. All I did was listen to [Hackman]. He had an amazing capacity for not giving away any part of himself (in read-throughs). But the minute we got on the set, little blinds on his eyes flipped up and everything was available. It was mesmerizing. He's really believable, and it was like a basic acting lesson."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Dafoe|first=Willem|author-link=Willem Dafoe|url=http://bombmagazine.org/article/1936/frances-mcdormand|title=Frances McDormand by Willem Dafoe|number=55|volume=Spring 1996|magazine=[[Bomb (magazine)|BOMB Magazine]]|access-date=May 11, 2016|archive-date=May 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520112222/http://bombmagazine.org/article/1936/frances-mcdormand|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Gailard Sartain]] plays Ray Stuckey, the sheriff of Jessup County, a character based on former Neshoba County sheriff [[Lawrence A. Rainey]].<ref name="Parker" /><ref name="Spokane">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|date=February 23, 1989|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1345&dat=19890223&id=cRhXAAAAIBAJ&pg=6213,3195100&hl=en|title=Sheriff sues film studio, claiming he was libeled|newspaper=[[The Spokesman-Review|Spokane Chronicle]]|location=[[Spokane, Washington]]|access-date=October 17, 2020|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506072545/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1345&dat=19890223&id=cRhXAAAAIBAJ&pg=6213%2C3195100&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref> Sartain described Stuckey as "an elected official&nbsp;... who has to be gregarious – but with sinister overtones".<ref>{{cite web|last=Wooley|first=John|url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/tulsa-s-gailard-sartain-takes-on-serious-role-in-mississippi/article_053d7437-9e03-58cf-9782-f6b6a959b3da.html|title=Tulsa's Gailard Sartain Takes on Serious Role In "Mississippi Burning'|work=[[Tulsa World]]|date=January 13, 1989|access-date=June 2, 2016|archive-date=June 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613120646/https://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/tulsa-s-gailard-sartain-takes-on-serious-role-in-mississippi/article_053d7437-9e03-58cf-9782-f6b6a959b3da.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Stephen Tobolowsky]] plays Clayton Townley, a [[Grand Wizard]] of the [[White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan]].<ref name="Parker" /> The character is based on  White Knights leader [[Samuel Bowers]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smith |first1=John David|last2=Appleton |first2=Thomas H.|last3=Roland |first3=Charles Pierce|title=A Mythic Land Apart: Reassessing Southerners and Their History|date=January 1997|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|location = United States|chapter=9. Hollywood and the Mythic Land Apart 1988–1990|pages=179–180|isbn=978-0-313-29304-7}}</ref> [[Michael Rooker]] plays Frank Bailey, a Klansman involved in the murders of the three civil rights activists.<ref>{{cite web|last=Meszoros|first=Mark|url=http://www.morningjournal.com/article/MJ/20150203/NEWS/150209898|title=Michael Rooker talks 'Mississippi Burning' |work=[[The Morning Journal]]|date=February 3, 2013|access-date=May 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815115034/http://www.morningjournal.com/article/MJ/20150203/NEWS/150209898|archive-date=2016-08-15|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Pruitt Taylor Vince]], who had a small role in Parker's previous film ''[[Angel Heart]]'', plays Lester Cowens, a Klansman who unknowingly becomes a pawn in the FBI's investigation. Vince described the character as "goofy, stupid and geeky" and stated, "I never had a prejudiced bone in my body. It gave me a funny feeling to play this guy with a hood and everything. But when you're in the midst of it, you just concentrate on getting through it."<ref>{{cite web|last=Russell|first=Candace|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1989-02-03/features/8901060897_1_klan-los-angeles-mississippi|title=Actor Says 'Mississippi' Bad-guy Role Was A Good Part|work=[[Sun-Sentinel]]|date=February 3, 1989|access-date=May 11, 2016|archive-date=June 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611103738/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1989-02-03/features/8901060897_1_klan-los-angeles-mississippi|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Kevin Dunn]] joined the production in February 1988, appearing in his acting debut as FBI Agent Bird.<ref>{{cite web|last1=O' Malley |first1=Kathy|last2=Gratteau |first2=Hanke|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1988/02/21/bidding-wars-5/|title=Bidding Wars&nbsp;...|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=February 21, 1988|access-date=June 2, 2016|archive-date=July 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701224142/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-02-21/news/8804010065_1_squad-cars-commonwealth-edison-jane-byrne|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Tobin Bell]], also making his feature film debut, plays Agent Stokes,<ref>{{cite news|last=Harrington|first=Richard|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102500750.html|title=Tobin Bell: A Pivotal Piece of the 'Saw' Puzzle|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=October 26, 2007|access-date=May 11, 2016|archive-date=November 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111141929/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102500750.html|url-status=live}}</ref> an FBI enforcer hired by Anderson to interrogate Cowens.<ref name="Parker" /> Bell was first asked by Parker to read for the role of Clinton Pell, a role that was ultimately given to [[Brad Dourif]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Heisler|first=Steve|url=https://www.avclub.com/tobin-bell-1798215087 |title=Tobin Bell · Random Roles|work=[[The A.V. Club]]|date=October 29, 2008|access-date=May 11, 2016|archive-date=June 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603131611/http://www.avclub.com/article/tobin-bell-2513|url-status=live}}</ref>

Appearing as the three civil rights activists are Geoffrey Nauffts as "Goatee", a character based on Michael Schwerner; Rick Zieff as "Passenger", based on Andrew Goodman; and Christopher White as "Black Passenger", based on James Chaney.<ref name="Parker" /><ref name="CastCrew" /> Producers Frederick Zollo and Robert F. Colesberry also make appearances in the film; Zollo briefly appears as a news reporter,<ref name="CastCrew" /> and Colesberry appears as a news cameraman who is brutally beaten by Frank Bailey.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> While [[location scouting|scouting locations]] in [[Jackson, Mississippi]], Parker arranged an open casting call for local actors and [[Extra (acting)|extras]].<ref name="ProdNotes" /> He and Colesberry met music teacher Lannie McBride, who appears as a [[Gospel music|gospel]] singer in the film.<ref name="ProdNotes" />

===Filming===

;Location scouting
During the screenwriting process, Parker and Colesberry began scouting locations. They visited eight states based on suggestions made by the location department. The shooting script required that a total of 62 locations be used for filming.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> In December 1987, Parker and Colesberry traveled to Mississippi to visit the stretch of road where Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner were murdered.<ref name="Parker" /> The filmmakers were initially reluctant about filming in Mississippi; they expressed interest in filming in [[Forsyth County, Georgia]], before being persuaded by John Horne, head of Mississippi's film commission.<ref name="Empire" /> Parker also met with Mississippi governor [[Ray Mabus]], who voiced his support of the film's production.<ref name="ProdNotes" />

Parker and Colesberry looked at locations near Jackson, Mississippi, where they set up production offices at a [[Holiday Inn]] hotel.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> They also visited [[Canton, Mississippi]], before travelling to [[Vaiden, Mississippi]], where they scouted more than 200 courthouses that could be used for filming.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> Parker and Colesberry had difficulty finding a small town for the story setting before choosing [[LaFayette, Alabama]], to act as scenes set in the fictional town of Jessup County, Mississippi, with other scenes being shot in a number of locales in Mississippi.<ref name="ProdNotes" />

;Principal photography
[[Image:Cross Lighting 2005.jpg|thumb|left|The burning of a cross, similar to scenes depicted in the film.]]
Principal photography began on March 7, 1988,<ref name="ProdNotes" /> with a [[production budget|budget]] of $15 million.<ref name="Empire" /><ref name="BurningTruth" /><ref name="TimeBurning">{{cite web|title=A Time for Burning--Murder in Mississippi|last=Goldstein|first=Patrick|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-05-ca-6683-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|date=June 5, 1988|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=May 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518040902/http://articles.latimes.com/1988-06-05/entertainment/ca-6683_1_mississippi-burning|url-status=live}}</ref> Filming began in Jackson, Mississippi, where the production team filmed a church being burned down. The sequence required a [[multiple-camera setup]]; a total of three cameras were used during the shoot.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> On March 8, the production team filmed a scene set in a motel where Anderson (Hackman) delivers a monologue to Ward (Dafoe).<ref name="ProdNotes" /> On March 10, production moved to a remote corner of Mississippi, where the crew filmed the burning of a parish church.<ref name="ProdNotes" />

On March 11, the production filmed scenes set in a pig farm, where a young boy is confronted and attacked by three perpetrators. A night later, the crew shot the film's opening sequence, in which the three civil rights workers are murdered.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> From March 14 to March 18, the crew filmed the burning of several more churches, as well as scenes set in a farm.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> On March 22, the crew filmed scenes set in a morgue that was located inside the [[University of Mississippi Medical Center]], exactly the same location where the bodies of Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner were transported.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> A day later, Parker and the crew filmed a scene set in a cotton field. The art department had to dress each plant with layers of cotton, as the cotton plants had not fully bloomed.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> The crew also filmed the abduction of Mayor Tilman ([[R. Lee Ermey]]) and his subsequent interrogation by FBI agent Monk ([[Badja Djola]]).<ref name="ProdNotes" /> On March 24, the production moved to [[Raymond, Mississippi]], where the crew filmed a scene at the [[John Bell Williams Airport]].<ref name="ProdNotes" /> Depicting Monk's departure, the scene was choreographed by Parker and the cast members so that it could be filmed in one take.<ref name="ProdNotes" />

The production then moved to Vaiden, Mississippi to film scenes set in the [[Carroll County, Mississippi|Carroll County]] Courthouse, where several courtroom scenes, as well as scenes set in Sheriff Ray Stuckey's office were filmed.<ref name="ProdNotes" /><ref name="Parker" /> The production moved to [[Vicksburg, Mississippi]], where the crew filmed a funeral [[procession]]. On April 11, 1988, the crew filmed a scene set in the [[Cedar Hill Cemetery (Vicksburg, Mississippi)|Cedar Hill Cemetery]].<ref name="ProdNotes" /> From April 15 to April 16, the production moved to the [[Mississippi River]] valley to depict the FBI and [[United States Navy]]'s search for the three civil rights workers. The art department recreated a [[Choctaw]] Indian Village on the location, based on old photographs.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> On April 23, the crew filmed a scene depicting a [[Citizens' Councils]] rally with 750 extras. On April 25, the crew returned to Jackson, Mississippi, where an unused building was to recreate a diner that was found in Alabama during location scouting. A day later, Hackman and Dafoe filmed their opening scene, in which the characters Anderson and Ward drive to Jessup County, Mississippi.<ref name="ProdNotes" />

On April 27, the production moved to LaFayette, Alabama, for the remainder of filming.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> From April 28 to April 29, Parker and his crew filmed scenes set in Mrs. Pell's home. On May 5, the production shot one of the film's final scenes, in which Anderson discovers Mrs. Pell's home trashed. On May 13, the crew filmed scenes in a former LaFayette movie theatre. The art department restored the theatre's interiors to reflect the time period.<ref name="ProdNotes" /> Filming concluded on May 14, 1988 with the Ku Klux Klan speech scene.<ref name="ProdNotes" />

===Music===
The [[film score|score]] was produced, arranged and composed by [[Trevor Jones (composer)|Trevor Jones]], his second collaboration with Parker after ''Angel Heart''.<ref name="Jones">{{cite web|url=http://www.bsospirit.com/entrevistas/tjones_e.php|title=Two Days with Trevor Jones at the Phone (First Day)|publisher=BSO Spirit|first=Sergio|last=Benitez|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=April 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418142645/http://www.bsospirit.com/entrevistas/tjones_e.php|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to Jones's score, the soundtrack features several gospel songs, including "Walk on by Faith" performed by Lannie McBride, "[[Take My Hand, Precious Lord]]" performed by [[Mahalia Jackson]] and "Try Jesus" performed by [[Vesta Williams]]. A motion picture soundtrack album was released by the recording labels [[Antilles Records]] and [[Island Records]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Various-Mississippi-Burning/release/1063161|title=Trevor Jones - Mississippi Burning (Original Soundtrack Recording) (Vinyl, LP, Album)|date=1989 |website=Discogs|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=October 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027150633/https://www.discogs.com/Various-Mississippi-Burning/release/1063161|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Release==
''Mississippi Burning'' held its world premiere at the [[Uptown Theater (Washington, D.C.)|Uptown Theatre]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], on December 2, 1988,<ref name="Opening">{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-05-ca-652-story.html|title=Civil Rights Star in D.C. Film Opening|first=Penny|last=Pagano|work=Los Angeles Times|date=5 December 1988 |access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=2016-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601133818/http://articles.latimes.com/1988-12-05/entertainment/ca-652_1_civil-rights|url-status=live}}</ref> with various politicians, ambassadors and political reporters in attendance. [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] [[Ted Kennedy]] voiced his support of the film, stating, "This movie will educate millions of Americans too young to recall the sad events of that summer about what life was like in this country before the enactment of the civil rights laws."<ref name="Opening" /> The film was given a [[Limited release#Platform release|platform release]], first being released in a small number of cities in North America before opening [[wide release|nationwide]]. It opened in Washington, [[Los Angeles]], [[Chicago]], [[Toronto]] and [[New York City]] on December 9, 1988.<ref name="Opening" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-11-ca-24-story.html|title='Burning' Mad in Ole Miss|first=John M.|last=Wilson|work=Los Angeles Times|date=11 December 1988 |access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=2016-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601143807/http://articles.latimes.com/1988-12-11/entertainment/ca-24_1_ole-miss|url-status=live}}</ref> Orion was confident that the [[limited release]] would help qualify the film for [[Academy Awards]] consideration, and generate strong word-of-mouth support from audiences.<ref name="Opening" /><ref name="IndiReader">{{cite news|first=Tony|last=Brown|date=February 25, 1989|url=https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=INR19890225-01.1.4|title=Hollywood dirty little secret|newspaper=[[Indianapolis Recorder]]|location=[[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]]|access-date=April 30, 2016|archive-date=May 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530162921/https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=INR19890225-01.1.4|url-status=live}}</ref> The film opened in wide release on January 27, 1989,<ref name="BOM">{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mississippiburning.htm|title=Mississippi Burning (1988)|work=[[Box Office Mojo]]|publisher=[[Internet Movie Database]]|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=June 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610012853/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mississippiburning.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> playing at 1,058 theaters, and expanding to 1,074 theatres by its ninth week.<ref name="BOMWeekend">{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=mississippiburning.htm|title=Mississippi Burning (1988) - Weekend Box Office Results|website=Box Office Mojo|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=May 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514030701/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=mississippiburning.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Box office===
''Mississippi Burning''{{'}}s first week of limited release saw it take $225,034, an average of $25,003.40 per theater.<ref name="BOMWeekend" /> The film grossed an additional $160,628 in its second weekend.<ref name="BOMWeekend" /> More theaters were added during the limited run, and on January 27, 1989, the film officially entered wide release. Over its first weekend of wide release, the film grossed $3,545,305, securing the number five position at the domestic box office with a domestic gross to date of $14,726,112.<ref name="BOMWeekend" /> The film generated strong local interest in the state of Mississippi, resulting in sold-out showings in the first four days of wide release.<ref>{{cite book|first=Adam |last=Nossiter|title=Of Long Memory: Mississippi and the Murder of Medgar Evers|date=Jun 16, 2009|publisher=[[Da Capo Press]]|location = United States|chapter=8. Downfall of the Old Order and Reawakening of Memory|pages=228–231|isbn=978-0-306-81162-3}}</ref> After seven weeks of wide release, ''Mississippi Burning'' ended its theatrical run with an overall gross of $34,603,943.<ref name="BOMWeekend" /> In North America, it was the thirty-third highest-grossing film of 1988<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/1988/?grossesOption=totalGrosses|title=1988 Yearly Box Office Results|website=Box Office Mojo|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=May 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514034417/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=mississippiburning.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and the seventeenth highest-grossing [[Motion Picture Association of America film rating system|R-rated]] film of that year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/mpaarating.htm?rating=R&yr=1988&p=.htm|title=1988 Yearly Box Office for R Rated Movies|website=Box Office Mojo|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=June 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609181154/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/mpaarating.htm?rating=R&yr=1988&p=.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Home media===
''Mississippi Burning'' was released on VHS on July 27, 1989, by Orion Home Video.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/07/21/old-stars-new-kids-in-summer-rock-tapes/|title=Old Stars, New Kids In Summer Rock Tapes|first=Mary|last=Stephens|date=July 21, 1989|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=June 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602063328/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-07-21/entertainment/8902190346_1_cbs-music-video-enterprises-new-video-releases-orion-home-video|url-status=live}}</ref> A "Collector's Edition" of the film was released on [[LaserDisc]] on April 3, 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/08117/ID3922OR/Mississippi-Burning:-Collector's-Edition|title=Mississippi Burning: Collector's Edition [ID3922OR]|website=LaserDisc Database|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=June 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621101100/https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/08117/ID3922OR/Mississippi-Burning%3A-Collector%27s-Edition|url-status=live}}</ref> The film was released on [[DVD]] on May 8, 2001, by [[MGM Home Entertainment]]. Special features for the DVD include an [[audio commentary]] by Parker and a [[Trailer (promotion)|theatrical trailer]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-mississippi-burning-gene-hackman/3620937?ean=27616860996 |title=Mississippi Burning (1988) - DVD |website=Barnes & Noble |access-date=November 4, 2014 |archive-date=November 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105023908/http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-mississippi-burning-gene-hackman/3620937?ean=27616860996 |url-status=live }}</ref> The film was released on [[Blu-ray]] on May 12, 2015, by the home video label [[Twilight Time (DVD label)|Twilight Time]], with a limited release of 3,000 copies. The Blu-ray presents the film in [[1080p]] [[High-definition video|high definition]], and contains the additional materials found on the MGM DVD.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Mississippi-Burning-Blu-ray/37228/ |title=Mississippi Burning Blu-ray |website=Blu-ray.com |access-date=June 9, 2015 |archive-date=June 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610090014/http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Mississippi-Burning-Blu-ray/37228/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Kino Lorber]] reissued the film on Blu-ray on June 18, 2019, with a new 4K transfer and all the previously-available extras.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Mississippi-Burning-Blu-ray/226917/ |title=Mississippi Burning Blu-ray  |website=Blu-ray.com |access-date=2020-01-20 |archive-date=2019-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826054028/https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Mississippi-Burning-Blu-ray/226917/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Reception==

===Critical response===
[[File:Frances McDormand 2015 (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Frances McDormand]]'s performance received critical acclaim, earning her a nomination for the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]].]]

The [[Review aggregator|review aggregation]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]] sampled 28 reviews and gave ''Mississippi Burning'' a score of 79%, with an [[Weighted arithmetic mean|average]] score of 6.8/10. The consensus reads: "''Mississippi Burning'' draws on real-life tragedy to impart a worthy message with the measured control of an intelligent drama and the hard-hitting impact of a thriller."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mississippi_burning/|title=Mississippi Burning (1988)|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=November 14, 2023|archive-date=December 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228131911/https://rottentomatoes.com/m/mississippi_burning|url-status=live}}</ref> Another review aggregator, [[Metacritic]], assigned the film a [[weighted mean|weighted average]] score of 65 out of 100 based on 11 reviews from mainstream critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mississippi-burning|title=Mississippi Burning|website=Metacritic|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=May 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160523223242/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/mississippi-burning|url-status=live}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{cite web |title=Home - Cinemascore |url=https://www.cinemascore.com/ |website=Cinemascore |access-date=28 December 2019 |archive-date=2 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102130540/https://www.cinemascore.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In a review for ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine entitled "Just Another Mississippi Whitewash", author Jack E. White described the film as a "cinematic lynching of the truth".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=White |first=Jack E. |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,956694,00.html |title=Show Business: Just Another Mississippi Whitewash |date=January 9, 1989 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=October 1, 2012 |archive-date=October 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004064015/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,956694,00.html |url-status=dead }} White's review is quoted in {{cite book |title=Bigger Than Blockbusters: Movies That Defined America |last=Roman |first=James |isbn=978-0-313-08740-0 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JBHRxrM9u-oC&pg=PA274 |page=274 |access-date=2016-10-23 |archive-date=2013-12-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210050543/http://books.google.com/books?id=JBHRxrM9u-oC&pg=PA274 |url-status=live }}</ref> Columnist [[Desson Thomson|Desson Howe]] of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' felt that the film "speeds down the complicated, painful path of civil rights in search of a good thriller. Surprisingly, it finds it."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/mississippiburningrhowe_a0b1d2.htm|title=Mississippi Burning (R)|first=Desson|last=Howe|author-link=Desson Thomson|date=December 9, 1988|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2014-10-26|archive-date=2013-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628111900/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/mississippiburningrhowe_a0b1d2.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Jonathan Rosenbaum]] lambasted Parker's direction and stated that the film's focus on "the FBI as the sole heroic defender of the victims of southern racism in 1964...subverts the history of the civil rights movement itself".<ref name="Rosenbaum">{{cite web |last=Rosenbaum |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Rosenbaum |date=December 16, 1988 |title=A Perversion of the Past [Mississippi Burning] |url=https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/2023/07/a-perversion-of-the-past/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240917184355/https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/2023/07/a-perversion-of-the-past/ |archive-date=2024-09-17 |access-date=2025-02-05 |work=Chicago Reader}}</ref> In addition, he opined that the nonwhite characters in the film are portrayed as "noble, suffering icons without any depth or personality".<ref name="Rosenbaum"/> Rita Kempley, also writing for ''The Washington Post'', criticized the film for viewing "the black struggle from an all-white perspective", and drew comparisons to ''[[Cry Freedom]]'' (1987), writing that both films had "the right story, but with the wrong heroes."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/mississippiburningrkempley_a0c9de.htm|title=Mississippi Burning (R)|last=Kempley|first=Rita|date=December 9, 1988|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=April 30, 2016|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305101403/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/mississippiburningrkempley_a0c9de.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Pauline Kael]], writing for ''[[The New Yorker]]'', praised the acting, but described the film as being "morally repugnant".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/movies/mississippi-burning-pauline-kael/|last=Kael|first=Pauline|author-link=Pauline Kael|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|title=Mississippi Burning|date=December 26, 1988|via=Scraps from the Loft|access-date=February 4, 2025|archive-date=2021-09-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917194722/https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/movies/mississippi-burning-pauline-kael/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' praised the film's fictionalization of history, writing: "The film doesn't pretend to be about the civil-rights workers themselves. It's almost as if Mr. Parker and Mr. Gerolmo respected the victims, their ideals and their fate too much to reinvent them through the use of fiction."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/09/movies/review-film-retracing-mississippi-s-agony-1964.html|title=Review/Film - Retracing Mississippi's Agony, 1964|first=Vincent|last=Canby|author-link=Vincent Canby|date=December 9, 1988|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=June 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601110708/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/09/movies/review-film-retracing-mississippi-s-agony-1964.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In his review for the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'', [[Roger Ebert]] surmised: "We knew the outcome of this case when we walked into the theater. What we may have forgotten, or never known, is exactly what kinds of currents were in the air in 1964."<ref name="Ebert">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mississippi-burning-1988|title=Mississippi Burning|first=Roger|last=Ebert|date=December 9, 1988|work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|publisher=RogerEbert.com|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=April 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421132742/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mississippi-burning-1988|url-status=live}}</ref> On the syndicated television program ''[[At the Movies (1986 TV program)|Siskel and Ebert and the Movies]]'', Ebert and his colleague [[Gene Siskel]] gave the film a "two thumbs up" rating.<ref>{{cite video|people=[[Gene Siskel]] and [[Roger Ebert]]|title=[[At the Movies (1986 TV program)|Siskel and Ebert and the Movies]]|date=December 3, 1988}}</ref> On his year-end top ten films list, Ebert ranked ''Mississippi Burning'' the #1 movie of 1988.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Siskel and Ebert Top Ten Lists - Inner Mind|url=https://www.innermind.com/misc/s_e_top.htm|access-date=2022-01-22|website=www.innermind.com}}</ref> Writing for the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', Siskel praised Hackman and Dafoe's "subtle" performances, but felt that McDormand was "most effective as the film's moral conscience".<ref name="Siskel">{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1988/12/09/subtle-portrayals-imbue-heavy-drama-burning/|title=Subtle Portrayals Imbue Heavy Drama 'Burning'|first=Gene|last=Siskel|date=December 9, 1988|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=June 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602081244/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-12-09/entertainment/8802230122_1_star-danny-devito-mississippi|url-status=live}}</ref>

Like Siskel, ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' magazine also praised the performances, writing: "Dafoe gives a disciplined and noteworthy portrayal of Ward&nbsp;... But it's Hackman who steals the picture as Anderson&nbsp;... Glowing performance of Frances McDormand as the deputy's wife who's drawn to Hackman is an asset both to his role and the picture."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/1987/film/reviews/mississippi-burning-1200427527/|title=Review: 'Mississippi Burning'|date=December 31, 1988|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=April 30, 2016|archive-date=June 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603014051/http://variety.com/1987/film/reviews/mississippi-burning-1200427527/|url-status=live}}</ref> Sheila Benson, in her review for the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'': wrote, "Hackman's mastery at suggesting an infinite number of layers beneath a wry, self-deprecating surface reaches a peak here, but McDormand soars right with him. And since she is the film's sole voice of morality, it's right that she is so memorable."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-18-ca-766-story.html|title=RCritic's Notebook: Some 'Burning' Questions|first=Sheila|last=Benson|date=December 18, 1988|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=April 30, 2016|archive-date=June 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601230046/http://articles.latimes.com/1988-12-18/entertainment/ca-766_1_mississippi-burning|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Controversy===
{{quote box|quote="...&nbsp;with ''Mississippi Burning'' the controversy got out of hand. It was impossible to turn on a TV without someone discussing the movie – or using the movie to trigger the debate&nbsp;... In the beginning it was rather nice to have your film talked about but suddenly the tide turned and although it did well at the box office, we were dogged by a lot of anger that the film generated."|source=—Parker reflecting on the film's controversy.<ref name="ProdNotes" />|width=35%|}}

Following its release, ''Mississippi Burning'' became embroiled in controversy over its fictionalization of events. Gerolmo and Parker have admitted taking [[artistic license]] with the source material, describing it as essentially a <nowiki>''work of fiction''</nowiki>. The killing itself, as portrayed in the film, differed from the actual events in several ways. In the film, during the car stop precipitating the murder, the driver is white (presumably either Andrew Goodman or Michael Schwerner), and the black civil rights volunteer (presumably James Chaney) is in the back seat. In reality, James Chaney drove the car because he was familiar with the area.<ref name="youtube.com">{{cite web |title=True Crime Story: Mississippi Burning (Crime Documentary) {{!}} Real Stories |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8cVY-E5eyg&t=2395s&ab_channel=RealStoriesRealStories |website=Youtube | date=14 January 2020 |access-date=22 May 2021}}</ref> The film presents the murders as having been committed at the scene of the stop while the victims were in their car, beginning with Frank Bailey putting a revolver to the temple of the car's driver and shooting. In reality, all three victims were first taken to jail and were shot after their release. Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were shot once in the heart, followed by James Chaney who was shot three times.<ref name="youtube.com"/> Much of the violence and intimidation of the black people in the film is drawn from events that occurred at the time, although not necessarily in relation to this investigation. The title itself comes from the FBI code name for the investigation, and some of the dialogue is drawn directly from their files. A lot of the fictional elements surround the actions of the two main FBI agents.<ref name="FactFiction" />

[[Coretta Scott King]], widow of [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], boycotted the film, stating: "How long will we have to wait before Hollywood finds the courage and the integrity to tell the stories of some of the many thousands of black men, women and children who put their lives on the line for equality?"<ref>{{cite book|title=History by Hollywood: The Use and Abuse of the Hollywood Past|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|location=United States|chapter=''Mississippi Burning'': A Standard to Which We Couldn't|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historybyhollywo00topl/page/26 26–27]|first=Robert Brent|last=Toplin|year=1996|isbn=978-0-252-06536-1|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/historybyhollywo00topl/page/26}}</ref> [[Myrlie Evers-Williams]], the wife of slain civil rights activist [[Medgar Evers]], said of the film: "It was unfortunate that it was so narrow in scope that it did not show one black role model that today's youth who look at the movie could remember."<ref name="Gazette">{{cite news|first=Bob |last=Thomas|date=March 23, 1989|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1917&dat=19890323&id=p89KAAAAIBAJ&pg=1005,5959681&hl=en|title=Picture Oscar Field Wide-Ranging|newspaper=[[The Daily Gazette|The Schenectady Gazette]]|location=[[Schenectady, New York]]|access-date=October 17, 2020|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506072600/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1917&dat=19890323&id=p89KAAAAIBAJ&pg=1005%2C5959681&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Benjamin Hooks]], the executive director of the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP), stated that the film, in its fictionalization of historical events, "reeks with dishonesty, deception and fraud" and portrays African Americans as "cowed, submissive and blank-faced".<ref name="APress">{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/8e15f6c2c8685d0af87a9261fbc7d141|title=Brother of Slain Rights Worker Blasts Movie|date=January 18, 1989|publisher=[[Associated Press]]|access-date=July 20, 2016|archive-date=August 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815132035/http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1989/Brother-Of-Slain-Rights-Worker-Blasts-Movie/id-8e15f6c2c8685d0af87a9261fbc7d141|url-status=live}}</ref>

Carolyn Goodman, mother of Andrew Goodman, and Ben Chaney Jr., the younger brother of James Chaney, expressed that they were both "disturbed" by the film.<ref name="TVMovie">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-04-ca-465-story.html|title=Another Case of Murder in Mississippi : TV movie on the killing of three civil rights workers in 1964 tries to fill in what 'Mississippi Burning' left out|last=Leftovsky|first=Irv|work=Los Angeles Times|date=4 February 1990 |access-date=May 2, 2016|archive-date=2016-05-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517195816/http://articles.latimes.com/1990-02-04/entertainment/ca-465_1_mississippi-burning/3|url-status=live}}</ref> Goodman felt that it "used the deaths of the boys as a means of solving the murders and the FBI being heroes."<ref name="TVMovie" /> Chaney stated, "...&nbsp;the image that younger people got (from the film) about the times, about Mississippi itself and about the people who participated in the movement being passive, was pretty negative and it didn't reflect the truth."<ref name="TVMovie" /> Stephen Schwerner, brother of Michael Schwerner, felt that the film was "terribly dishonest and very racist" and "[distorted] the realities of 1964".<ref name="APress" />

On a [[Martin Luther King Jr. Day]] (January 16, 1989) episode of [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s late-night news program ''[[Nightline]]'', [[Julian Bond]], a social activist and leader in the Civil Rights Movement, nicknamed the film "''[[Rambo (film series)|Rambo]]'' Meets the Klan"<ref name="Bond">{{cite web|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1989-01-20/features/8901040442_1_miami-film-festival-foreign-film-expectations-foreign-language-films|title=Julian Bond Disputes Portrayal Of FBI|last=Russell|first=Candace|date=January 20, 1989|work=[[Sun-Sentinel]]|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=June 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604231324/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1989-01-20/features/8901040442_1_miami-film-festival-foreign-film-expectations-foreign-language-films|url-status=dead}}</ref> and disapproved of its depiction of the FBI: "People are going to have a mistaken idea about that time&nbsp;... It's just wrong. These guys were tapping our telephones, not looking into the murders of [Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner]."<ref name="Bond" /> When asked about the film at the [[1989 Cannes Film Festival]], filmmaker [[Spike Lee]] criticized the lack of central African-American characters, believing the film was among several others that used a [[White savior narrative in film|white savior narrative]] to exploit blacks in favor of depicting whites as heroes.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/insight-to-riot-19890713|title='Do the Right Thing': Insight to Riot|last=Handelman|first=David|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=13 July 1989|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=April 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428041830/http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/insight-to-riot-19890713|url-status=live}}</ref>

In response to these criticisms, Parker defended the film, stating that it was "fiction in the same way that ''[[Platoon (film)|Platoon]]'' and ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'' are fictions of the [[Vietnam War]]. But the important thing is the heart of the truth, the spirit&nbsp;... I defend the right to change it in order to reach an audience who knows nothing about the realities and certainly don't watch [[PBS]] documentaries."<ref name="FactFiction" />

===Legal dispute===
On February 21, 1989, former Neshoba County sheriff [[Lawrence A. Rainey]] filed a lawsuit against Orion Pictures, claiming [[defamation]] and [[Expectation of privacy|invasion of privacy]]. The lawsuit, filed at a [[United States district court]] in Meridian, Mississippi, asked for $8 million in damages.<ref name="Spokane" /> Rainey, who was the county sheriff at the time of the 1964 murders, alleged that the filmmakers of ''Mississippi Burning'' portrayed him in an unfavorable light with the fictional character of Sheriff Ray Stuckey ([[Gailard Sartain]]). "Everybody all over the South knows the one they have playing the sheriff in that movie is referring to me," he stated. "What they said happened and what they did to me certainly wasn't right and something ought to be done about it."<ref name="Spokane" /> Rainey's lawsuit was unsuccessful; he dropped the suit after Orion's team of lawyers threatened to prove that the film was based on fact, and that Rainey was indeed suspected in the 1964 murders.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Craft |first1=Stephanie |last2=Davis |first2=Charles N. |title=Principles of American Journalism: An Introduction |chapter=The Foundations of Free Expression |year=2013 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-89017-5 |page=189}}</ref>

===Accolades===
''Mississippi Burning'' received various awards and nominations in categories ranging from recognition of the film itself to its writing, direction, editing, sound and cinematography, to the performances of Gene Hackman and Frances McDormand. It was named one of the "[[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top 10 Films of 1988]]" by the [[National Board of Review]]. The organization also awarded the film top honors at the [[National Board of Review Awards 1988|60th National Board of Review Awards]]: [[National Board of Review Award for Best Film|Best Film]], [[National Board of Review Award for Best Director|Best Director]], [[National Board of Review Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] and [[National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]].<ref name="NBR">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1988/|title=1988 Archives – National Board of Review|publisher=[[National Board of Review]]|access-date=February 4, 2015|archive-date=March 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321091708/http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1988/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In January 1989, the film received four [[Golden Globe Award]] nominations for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama|Best Motion Picture – Drama]], [[Golden Globe Award for Best Director|Best Director]], [[Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]] and [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama]] (Hackman),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-05-ca-272-story.html|title='Working Girl', 'L.A. Law' Top Globe Choices|work=Los Angeles Times|first=John|last=Voland|date=January 5, 1989|access-date=May 16, 2015|archive-date=June 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605120053/http://articles.latimes.com/1989-01-05/entertainment/ca-272_1_golden-girls|url-status=live}}</ref> though it failed to win any of the awards at the [[46th Golden Globe Awards]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-30-ca-1025-story.html|title='Rain Man' Sends a Global Message|work=Los Angeles Times|first=Nina J.|last=Easton|date=January 30, 1989|access-date=May 16, 2015|archive-date=June 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605115035/http://articles.latimes.com/1989-01-30/entertainment/ca-1025_1_rain-man|url-status=live}}</ref> In February 1989, ''Mississippi Burning'' was nominated for seven [[Academy Awards]], including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] and [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]; its closest rivals were ''[[Rain Man]]'' leading with eight nominations, and ''[[Dangerous Liaisons]]'', which also received seven nominations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-02-16-ca-3783-story.html|title=Academy Showers 'Rain Man' With 8 Oscar Bids : 'Dangerous Liaisons' and 'Mississippi Burning' Get 7 Each|first=Michael|last=Cipely|date=February 16, 1988|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=June 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601143510/http://articles.latimes.com/1989-02-16/entertainment/ca-3783_1_rain-man|url-status=live}}</ref> On March 29, 1989, at the [[61st Academy Awards]], the film won only one of the seven awards for which it was nominated, [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]].<ref name="Oscars1989">{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1989 |title=The 61st Academy Awards (1989) Nominees and Winners |website=Oscars.org |access-date=November 27, 2013 |archive-date=May 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502001817/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1989 |url-status=live }}</ref> At the [[43rd British Academy Film Awards]], the film received five nominations, ultimately winning for [[BAFTA Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]], [[BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] and [[BAFTA Award for Best Editing|Best Editing]].<ref name="BAFTA">{{cite web|url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1990/film|title=Film in 1990|website=[[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]]|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305074044/http://awards.bafta.org/award/1990/film|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+List of awards and nominations received by ''Mississippi Burning''
! Award !! Category !! Nominee !! Result
|-
|rowspan=7| [[61st Academy Awards]]<ref name="Oscars1989" />
|align="center" |[[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]
|align="center" |[[Frederick Zollo]] and [[Robert F. Colesberry]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|align="center" |[[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
|align="center" |[[Alan Parker]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|align="center" |[[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
|align="center" |[[Gene Hackman]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|align="center" |[[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
|align="center" |[[Frances McDormand]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|align="center" |[[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
|align="center" |[[Peter Biziou]]
|{{won}}
|-
|align="center" |[[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]]
|align="center" |[[Gerry Hambling]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|align="center" |[[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]]
|align="center" |[[Robert J. Litt]], [[Elliot Tyson]], [[Rick Kline]] and [[Danny Michael]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|1989 [[American Cinema Editors|Annual ACE Eddie Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-20-ca-32-story.html|title=Kudos|last1=MacMinn |first1=Aleene|last2=Puig |first2=Claudia|date=March 20, 1989|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=June 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601134843/http://articles.latimes.com/1989-03-20/entertainment/ca-32_1_career-achievement-awards|url-status=live}}</ref>
|align="center" |[[American Cinema Editors Award for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic|Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic]]
|align="center" |Gerry Hambling
|{{won}}
|-
|1989 [[American Society of Cinematographers|Annual ASC Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theasc.com/asc_news/awards/awards_history.php |title=The ASC -- Past ASC Awards |website=American Society of Cinematographers |access-date=April 29, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110802060537/http://www.theasc.com/asc_news/awards/awards_history.php |archive-date=August 2, 2011 }}</ref>
|align="center" |[[American Society of Cinematographers Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases|ASC Award]]
|align="center" |Peter Biziou
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=2|[[39th Berlin International Film Festival]]<ref name="Berlinale">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1989/03_preistr_ger_1989/03_Preistraeger_1989.html |title=Berlinale: 1989 Prize Winners |access-date=2011-03-12 |work=berlinale.de |archive-date=2019-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609015427/https://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1989/03_preistr_ger_1989/03_Preistraeger_1989.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|align="center" |[[Silver Bear for Best Actor]]
|align="center" |Gene Hackman
|{{won}}
|-
|align="center" |[[Silver Bear for Best Director]]
|align="center" |Alan Parker
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=5|[[43rd British Academy Film Awards]]<ref name="BAFTA" />
|align="center" |[[BAFTA Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]]
|[[Bill Phillips (sound editor)|Bill Phillips]], Danny Michael, Robert J. Litt, Elliot Tyson, Rick Kline
|{{won}}
|-
|align="center" |[[BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
|align="center" |Peter Biziou
|{{won}}
|-
|align="center" |[[BAFTA Award for Best Editing|Best Editing]]
|align="center" |Gerry Hambling
|{{won}}
|-
|align="center" |[[BAFTA Award for Best Direction|Best Direction]]
|align="center" |Alan Parker
|{{nom}}
|-
|align="center" |[[BAFTA Award for Best Film Music|Best Film Music]]
|align="center" |Trevor Jones
|{{nom}}
|-
|1989 [[British Society of Cinematographers]] Awards<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinematography.world/oscar-winner-peter-biziou-wins-the-golden-camera-300-for-lifetime-achievement/|date=September 9, 2023|title=Oscar winner Peter Biziou wins the Golden Camera 300 and EnergaCAMERIMAGE Lifetime Achievement Award|website=Cinematography World|access-date=February 5, 2025}}</ref>
|align="center" |Best Cinematography
|align="center" |Peter Biziou
|{{won}}
|-
|1989 [[Casting Society of America|Artios Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.castingsociety.com/awards/artios/1989|title=1989 Artios Awards|website=[[Casting Society of America]]|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=March 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325115735/http://www.castingsociety.com/awards/artios/1989|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|align="center" |Best Casting for a Drama Film
|align="center" |Howard Feuer, Juliet Taylor
|{{won}}
|-
|rowspan=4|[[Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 1989|2nd Chicago Film Critics Association]] Awards<ref>{{cite web|title=Chicago Film Critics Awards - 1988-97 |url=http://www.chicagofilmcritics.org/1988-97 |website=[[Chicago Film Critics Association]] |access-date=April 29, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422075211/http://www.chicagofilmcritics.org/1988-97 |archive-date=April 22, 2016 }}</ref>
|align="center" |[[Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
|align="center" |————
|{{won}}
|-
|align="center" |[[Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
|align="center" |Frances McDormand
|{{won}}
|-
|align="center" |[[Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
|align="center" |Gene Hackman
|{{nom}}
|-
|align="center" |[[Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
|align="center" |[[Brad Dourif]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=2|[[David di Donatello]] Awards<ref>{{cite book|first=Enrico |last=Lancia|title=I premi del cinema|publisher=Gremese Editore|isbn=88-7742-221-1|year=1998}}</ref>
|align="center" |[[David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor|Best Foreign Actor]]
|align="center" |Gene Hackman
|{{nom}}
|-
|align="center" |[[David di Donatello for Best Foreign Film|Best Foreign Film]]
|align="center" |Alan Parker
|{{nom}}
|-
|41st [[Directors Guild of America Award]]s<ref>{{cite web|title=1988 Directors Guild of America Awards|url=http://www.dga.org/Awards/History/1980s/1988.aspx|website=[[Directors Guild of America Award]]s|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074808/http://www.dga.org/Awards/History/1980s/1988.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>
|align="center" |[[Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film|Outstanding Directing – Feature Film]]
|align="center" |Alan Parker
|{{nom}}
|-
|1988 Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kcfcc.org/kcfcc-award-winners-1980-89/|title=KCFCC Award Winners – 1980–89|date=14 December 2013|website=Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards|access-date=April 29, 2016|archive-date=December 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201105239/https://kcfcc.org/kcfcc-award-winners-1980-89/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|align="center" |Best Supporting Actress
|align="center" |Frances McDormand
|{{won}}
|-
|[[1988 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards|14th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-12-ca-187-story.html|title=L.A. Film Critics Vote Lahti, Hanks, 'Dorrit' Winners|first=Nina J.|last=Easton|date=December 12, 1988|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=April 30, 2016|archive-date=June 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601134731/http://articles.latimes.com/1988-12-12/entertainment/ca-187_1_l-a-film-critics|url-status=live}}</ref>
|align="center" |[[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
|align="center" |Gene Hackman
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=4| [[46th Golden Globe Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goldenglobes.com/winners-nominees/1989|title=Winners & Nominees 1989 (Golden Globes)|work=Golden Globes |publisher=[[Golden Globe Awards]]|access-date=April 30, 2016|archive-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220130531/http://www.goldenglobes.com/winners-nominees/1989|url-status=live}}</ref>
|align="center" |[[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama|Best Motion Picture – Drama]]
|align="center" |————
|{{nom}}
|-
|align="center" |[[Golden Globe Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
|align="center" |Alan Parker
|{{nom}}
|-
|align="center" |[[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama]]
|align="center" |Gene Hackman
|{{nom}}
|-
|align="center" |[[Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
|align="center" |[[Chris Gerolmo]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=5|[[National Board of Review Awards 1988|60th National Board of Review Awards]]<ref name="NBR" />
|align="center" |[[National Board of Review Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
|align="center" |————
|{{won}}
|-
|align="center" |[[National Board of Review Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
|align="center" |Alan Parker
|{{won}}
|-
|align="center" |[[National Board of Review Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
|align="center" |Gene Hackman
|{{won}}
|-
|align="center" |[[National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
|align="center" |Frances McDormand
|{{won}}
|-
|align="center" |[[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
|align="center" |————
|{{won}}
|-
|[[1988 National Society of Film Critics Awards|23rd National Society of Film Critics Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/01/09/unbearable-lightness-named-best-film-of-88-by-critics-group/|title='Unbearable Lightness' Named Best Film Of '88 By Critics Group|first=Dave|last=Kehr|date=January 9, 1989|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=April 30, 2016|archive-date=July 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729122822/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-01-09/news/8902230936_1_critics-group-los-angeles-critics-film-critics|url-status=live}}</ref>
|align="center" |[[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
|align="center" |Gene Hackman
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=2|[[1988 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|54th New York Film Critics Circle Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1989/01/25/critics-picks-are-oscar-indicators/|title=Critics' Picks Are Oscar Indicators|first=Jay|last=Boyar|date=January 25, 1989|work=[[Orlando Sentinel]]|publisher=Orlando Sentinel|access-date=April 30, 2016|archive-date=June 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601122231/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1989-01-25/lifestyle/8901250099_1_critics-awards-academy-best-picture-prize|url-status=live}}</ref>
|align="center" |[[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
|align="center" |————
|{{nom}}
|-
|align="center" |[[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
|align="center" |Gene Hackman
|{{nom}}
|-
|1989 Political Film Society Awards<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.polfilms.com/previous.html|title=Political Film Society - Previous Award Winners|work=Political Film Society|access-date=April 30, 2016|archive-date=May 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527064914/http://www.polfilms.com/previous.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|align="center" |[[Political Film Society Award for Human Rights|Human Rights Award]]
|align="center" |————
|{{won}}
|-
|}

==See also==
* [[1988 in film]]
* [[Civil rights movement in popular culture]]

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last1=Gonthier |first1=David F. Jr. |last2=O’Brien |first2=Timothy M. |title=The Films of Alan Parker, 1976–2003 |date=2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786497256 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9S-SCgAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book |last1=Nossiter |first1=Adam |title=Of Long Memory: Mississippi And The Murder Of Medgar Evers |date=2009 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=9780786748488 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ioiAfzZsxbcC}}
* {{cite book |last1=Roman |first1=James |title=Bigger Than Blockbusters: Movies That Defined America |date=2009 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9780313087400 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JBHRxrM9u-oC}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Smith |editor1-first=John David |editor2-last=Appleton |editor2-first=Thomas H. |editor3-last=Roland |editor3-first=Charles Pierce |title=A Mythic Land Apart: Reassessing Southerners and Their History |date=1997 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=9780313293047 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LkPbzgazsuYC}}
* {{cite book |last1=Toplin |first1=Robert Brent |title=History by Hollywood: The Use and Abuse of the American Past |date=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=9780252065361 |url=https://archive.org/details/historybyhollywo00topl|url-access=registration }}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book| last1= Cagin |first1=Seth| last2= Dray |first2=Philip | title= We Are Not Afraid: The Story of Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney and the Civil Rights Campaign for Mississippi| publisher= Macmillan Publishing Company| date= 1988| pages= [https://archive.org/details/wearenotafraid00seth/page/289 289, 290, 294 & 295]| isbn= 0-02-520260-X| url= https://archive.org/details/wearenotafraid00seth/page/289}}
* {{cite book | last= Ranalli |first=Ralph | title= Deadly Alliance: The FBI's Secret Partnership with the Mob | isbn= 978-0-380-81193-9 | publisher= HarperCollins | date= July 28, 2001 | url= https://archive.org/details/deadlyalliancefb00rana }}
* {{cite news| last=Spain |first=David M.D. |title=Mississippi Autopsy| work=[[Ramparts (magazine)|Ramparts Magazine]]'s Mississippi Eyewitness |pages=43–49|date= 1964| url=http://dickatlee.com/issues/mississippi/mississippi_eyewitness/pdfs/mississippi_autopsy.pdf}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Hoerl |first1=Kristen |title=Burning Mississippi into Memory? Cinematic Amnesia as a Resource for Remembering Civil Rights |journal=Critical Studies in Media Communication |date=2009 |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=54–79 |doi=10.1080/15295030802684059|s2cid=53388045 |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1196&context=commstudiespapers }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Jansson |first1=David R. |title='A Geography of Racism': Internal Orientalism and the Construction of American National Identity in the Film Mississippi Burning |journal=National Identities |date=2005 |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=265–285 |doi=10.1080/14608940500201797|bibcode=2005NatId...7..265J |s2cid=42621553 }}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Mississippi Burning}}
* [http://mgm.com/#/our-titles/1268/Mississippi-Burning Official website]
* ''[http://alanparker.com/film/mississippi-burning/ Mississippi Burning]'' at [http://alanparker.com AlanParker.com]
* {{IMDb title|0095647|Mississippi Burning}}
* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/mississippi-burning-am5324 ''Mississippi Burning'' at AllMovie]
* {{TCMDb title|id=83654}}
* {{AFI film|id=58849|title=Mississippi Burning}}
* {{Metacritic film|title=Mississippi Burning}}
* {{mojo title|id=mississippiburning|title=Mississippi Burning}}
* {{Rotten-tomatoes|mississippi_burning|Mississippi Burning}}

{{Alan Parker}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for ''Mississippi Burning''
|list1 =
{{Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Film}}
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Film}}
}}
{{Portal bar|Mississippi|Film|1960s}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1988 films]]
[[Category:1988 controversies in the United States]]
[[Category:1988 crime drama films]]
[[Category:1988 crime thriller films]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]
[[Category:1980s buddy drama films]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:African-American-related controversies in film]]
[[Category:American buddy drama films]]
[[Category:American crime drama films]]
[[Category:American crime thriller films]]
[[Category:American films based on actual events]]
[[Category:Civil rights movement in film]]
[[Category:Crime thriller films based on actual events]]
[[Category:Crime drama films based on actual events]]
[[Category:Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation]]
[[Category:Films about the Ku Klux Klan]]
[[Category:Films about racism in the United States]]
[[Category:Films directed by Alan Parker]]
[[Category:Films scored by Trevor Jones]]
[[Category:Films set in 1964]]
[[Category:Films set in Mississippi]]
[[Category:Films shot in Alabama]]
[[Category:Films shot in Mississippi]]
[[Category:Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography Academy Award]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Mississippi]]
[[Category:Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner]]
[[Category:Orion Pictures films]]
[[Category:English-language crime drama films]]
[[Category:English-language crime thriller films]]
[[Category:English-language buddy drama films]]