A road film riding through music and segregation: Green Book

Starring Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali, Green Book premiered at Toronto Film Festival to huge critical and box office success, going on to win the Audience Award, and is one of the strongest contenders of an Oscar.

A road film filled with humour, warmth and friendship, Green Book tells the story of a black concert pianist and his white driver in 1962 as they ride on tour from New York to the racist southern states. Mortensen plays the driver Tony Lip while Ali plays musician, jazz virtuoso Don Shirley, taking on his first lead since Moonlight.

After completing the tour Tony Lip became an actor who took part in numerous films including Godfather, Goodfellas and the TV series The Sopranos. The title Green Book refers to a guide for black motorbikers in the 1960s that designated safe areas.

Green Book is directed by Peter Farrely and written by farrely, Brian Hayes and Nick Vallelonga, Tony Lip’s son.