Set in the post-civil war era, Savannah is the true story of the legendary Ward Allen (Caviezel), an Aristocrat-turned-market hunter, his, business partner — a freed slave named Christmas Moultrie (Ejiofor), and the love of his life, free-spirited Lucy Stubbs (Alexander). As the changing times force the brilliant but troubled Ward to challenge the government to recognize his rights as a market hunter, Ward fights to preserve his love, his life-long friendship with Moultrie and above all, his cherished way of life on the Savannah River.

Savannah stars Jim Caviezel, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jaimie Alexander, Hal Holbrook, and Sam Shepard.

The movie, which is scheduled for an August 23rd release, was directed by Annette Haywood-Carter and written by Haywood-Carter and her husband Ken Carter, both formerly of Savannah. The movie is based on John Cay’s Ward Allen: Savannah River Market Hunter. You can see the full cast and crew at IMDB.

I really liked Savannah, which explored darker themes than I anticipated and which I first lauded back in spring 2012.

The new trailer is considerably different from the previous marketing trailer. The narrative framing device with the story being told by an elderly Christmas Moultrie has been swapped for more immediate connections to the action and shots of the intense, attractive cast.

Connect Savannah featured a cover story about Savannah just a couple of weeks ago.

Here’s the trailer embedded (sorry if you have to wade through a commercial — I can’t remove that):

The film screened to an appreciative full house in March 2012 at Trustees Theater on Broughton Street, but it has been under the radar since then. I wrote about it here on the blog: “Savannah” — a lush new feature film — the post contains a link to a City Talk column that mentioned the movie too.

From that post:

Iâ€m not going to include spoilers here, but the film was darker in its themes than I expected. And thatâ€s a good thing. There are some deeply sad elements to Ward Allenâ€s story — and to the story of Christmas Moultrie, the last child born into slavery at Mulberry Grove Plantation and later Allenâ€s hunting friend and assistant. The multi-layered narrative doesnâ€t shy from those dark moments.

And now some news from TheDigitelCharleston: Locally produced film “SAVANNAH” ‘special screening†at Charleston Film Festival:

The Charleston Film Festival at the Terrace Theatre has announced that Annette Haywood Carterâ€s “SAVANNAH” will receive a ‘special screening†at 7 p.m. on March 8 as a part of its fourth annual exhibit.

The film was produced by Charlestonâ€s own John Cay and features Charleston-area actor Daniel Jones, alongside stars Jim Caviezel (“The Passion of the Christ”), Sam Shepard (“Safe House”) and Greenville native Jaimie Alexander (“Thor”). Both Carter and Cay will be in attendance for the screening.

Never before shown in a festival setting, “SAVANNAH” tells the true story of Ward Allen, a post-Civil War rebel who betrays his traditional Aristocratic upbringing to become a market hunter, crossing paths with a freed slave (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his pronounced love-interest (Alexander), all while taking up residence on the banks of the Savannah River.

There’s a bit more at the Terrace Theatre website.