Stephen Spielberg arrived in Newport in March 1997 for the filming of Amistad. The film centered on the courtroom scene which took place in the Colony House. The area was designed to represent 1830 when the actual Amistad event occurred. Washington Square was covered in tons of soil, power lines and parking meters removed. The attention to detail is classic Spielberg. The other scene filed in Newport was the jail scene which occurred in a facade built in Queen Anne's Square in front of Trinity Church. I photographed this event with Black & White film and have scanned the images into digital form for sharing.
This was a huge event for the city and it was not unusual to see Matthew McConaughey about town after the work day was done. He was often seen at One Pelham East and rumor has it that he had quite a time there. Morgan Freeman was also visible on occasion and greeted the community warmly.