The film "Judas and the Black Messiah," premiering Friday in theaters, tells the story of Fred Hampton, the deputy chairman of the Illinois chapter of the revolutionary Black Panther Party who was assassinated by police at 21 years old. At a roundtable discussion of college journalists, stars from the film discussed the history of the film and the activists they played.

“And God said, ‘Let there be light’... God saw that the light was good, and separated the light from the darkness.” The decree, clearly painted on the black paneled set of Boston University...