Recent Oscar winner Forest Whitaker will star alongside fellow Academy Award winner Denzel Washington for the fact-based drama The Great Debaters. Washington will be directing the movie which begins filming next month, his second feature as a director after Antwone Fisher in 2002. The movie based on a true story will see Washington play a hot-headed coach who manages to lead a team of college students in Texas into an elite team that goes up against Havard's championship squad in the 1930's. Whitaker will be playing the father of one of the students, who ends up competing with Washington over the loyalties of his son. Without strong actors, this type of movie would soon become a borefest, but surely with Whitaker and Washington on board, that won't be a problem. source - variety