In 2008, Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman offered to pay for the senior prom at Charleston High School in Mississippi. The star had only one condition: the dance had to be racially integrated.

The school board accepted the offer and history was made.

In the funny, inspiring new documentary "Prom Night in Mississippi," Canadian filmmaker Paul Saltzman follows the town's excited students, concerned teachers and nervous parents as they busy themselves in a flurry of preparations for the big event.

Buying corsages, girls shopping for taffeta dresses and boys renting tuxes -- Saltzman serves up everything one would expect about this teen right of passage.

But he also peers past the starched ruffles and high-school gab to reveal a shocker. There are racial fires burning within this sleepy little Delta hamlet. Freeman's generous offer fuels these flames that divide the town's children, parents and generations.

"It's hard for us to accept that racism exists today, particularly when there is an African American president sitting in the oval office," said Saltzman.

That disbelief rings particularly true for Saltzman.

In 1965, the 21-year-old University of Toronto student responded to an ad in the school newspaper saying: "Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee Meeting Today."

Intrigued, Saltzman went to the volunteer meeting and decided to travel to Mississippi for three months to help coordinate voter registrations.

"That was a transformation time in my life. I see echoes of the work that I did for the Civil Rights Movement here in this film. I also see that there is more work that needs to be done," said Saltzman.

As "Prom Night in Mississippi" unfolds, some white parents forbid their children to attend the integrated dance. They hold a whites-only prom, a decision that clearly voices their desire to let the status quo within their community remain unchanged.

Changing views on racism isn't easy

"The biggest challenge we faced was trying to get the white parents to talk to us," said Saltzman. "They never did, not even through their lawyers."

The white parents also used legal means to bar Saltzman's camera crew from filming their private dance.

Through diary entries and student voices, the significance swirling around all these events gets played out in compelling ways.

The honest, heartfelt dialogues reveal the many ways racism has impacted these teens.

One student confesses that his racist parents will disown him if he ever lets them know how much he disapproves of their beliefs.

Others share their true thoughts in shadows, fearful of being shunned by their friends and family.

The transformation that inspires is indeed remarkable.

"It was like someone outside of their little world finally cared enough to know what they were thinking and feeling," said Saltzman. "By the end of filming, you couldn't miss the profound change in these kids just from being heard."

Of course, two of Saltzman's female leads could not believe what they saw when the film screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

"Prom Night in Mississippi" was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema/Documentary category.

"The girls cried all the way through it," said Saltzman. "Afterwards, they told me they were so surprised. They thought I was making a home movie."

As Saltzman says, "Racism still exists, whether we like to admit it or not. But, this film helped one community to get to know its own courageous citizens better. Nothing changes until you do. Maybe that connection will help it along."