Not very far into “Bessie” comes the recognition that we are watching a true labor of love, meant to celebrate ... arms around the singer’s entire life in under two hours.

In the 1920s, Bessie ... later come on board to direct. “I think it took a change when [Christopher Cleveland and Bettina Gilois] came on and did that rewrite. They got into that life, the ...

Later in life ... male or female, served in Bessie’s life, and the issues she had with admitting and accepting love. We talk about Rees’s own thoughts about why the portrayal of sexuality ...

Airing on HBO Saturday, "Bessie ... life are here, reflected - or, more accurately, refracted - in the screenplay by Rees, Christopher Cleveland and Bettina Gilois, based on a story by Rees and ...