"Southern Stories" - Charleston and Memphis

Paul and I are on the road, headed to Jackson, MS, for the fourth stop on our tour. Our text reflections on the first three stops on our tour (Johnson City, Charleston, and Memphis) can be found in this post on our Self-Reliant Film blog. We'll be adding more posts to the Self-Reliant site and regular updates to our Facebook page as we continue our criss-cross path through the Southeast.

We've been overwhelmed by the responses of audiences to our work in this first three stops and have enjoyed the hospitality of our great venue hosts--including Anita, Rebecca, Lizz, Mark & Erik--and also that of old friends we've reconnected with along the way. We hope these photos can convey a little bit of that experience:

MS-SC-NC

Jackson to Clemson to Cullowhee
I write this before a journey to Durham tomorrow where God's Architects will play at Duke University's Center for Documentary Studies.

Yesterday, I somehow made it over to South Carolina from Mississippi, where I had a brief and nice stay in Jackson near Millsaps College where played. After a friendly screening and gathering in Clemson, I drove north this morning, to Cullowhee, North Carolina. Quite a drive, from the hills around Clemson to the mountains that surround Western Carolina University. The drive was a great slow winding succession of switchbacks and slopes, which forced me to slow down and look around, oftentimes perilously. Because of the long and freezing winter, most of the trees remain leafless, which offered me glimpses of mountains from the forests of other mountains, views rarely glimpsed this time of year.

On the downslope of one particularly slow curve, I am lucky enough to catch site of an over-sized shoulder where I quickly pull over, realizing I need to get out and stretch for a moment. As I open the door, I immediately hear the mild roar of a waterfall in the near distance. I turn and notice just steps away a narrow gravel path that leads into the forest, and I assume with little doubt that this is the way to the falls. Of course...this shoulder is really a stopping off point where people park while they visit the falls.

Alone I wander through a newly green glade of all manner of deciduous and fir tree, and soon crystalline waters flow along both sides of the path. This must be the water from the falls now flowing down the mountain in two separate streams.

The pool at the base of the white-waterfall reflects the blues and greens above. The falls themselves overflow a rock cliff some thirty feet tall and twice as wide. The rock stretches horizontally well beyond the reach of the fall and yet is continually wet from a watery glaze that covers its darkly green algae-slick surface. In drips and drops, water finds its way down the rock and into the pool and the forked stream beyond. Much of the water, however, rolls directly from the supposed river above and down the rock face until it runs up against a small ridge, a lip in the otherwise smoothly worn stone, at which point the water stutters, forming a waterfall in miniature before it gathers in beaded sheets and descends the lower face of the rock. Yet the most voluminous flows of water shoot out in one seemingly continuous flow beyond the face of the rock and into the low sky. But the water breaks up as it falls. At first hesitant about being thrust and scattered into separation, the droplets appear to linger in air above the pool. And yet a violence exists too, for the droplets manage to cohere somehow and pour collectively (though fly seems to describe it better) and crash against the rock and into a patch of foam in the blue-green pool. The sound, the roar, is unmistakable, and well known.

For a brief moment, the sun sneaks out from behind some clouds to backlight the rim of the falls, as if to make the clear and over-sized droplets glow for me alone.

All of this, a strange collaboration this afternoon, in the woods along Highway 107, somewhere in between Clemson and Cullowhee. Silver Run Falls.


music by Ross Jackson

Montgomery & Crosses

Montgomery
I arrived in Montgomery in time to get a tour of the city with Martin McCaffery, whose encyclopedic knowledge of the place and his deft driving abilities could not keep small gray rocks from falling out of the sky at the site of Hank Williams' eternal resting place. No manna from Heaven for Hank...just rocks. (Two cemeteries in two days...I wonder whose grave I might visit in Jackson?)
As for the rocks that were falling out of the sky, I have no idea, and neither did Martin. We just hurried back into his car and headed back to the Capri Theater - which he's been running for a quarter century. (He must've started the job when he was 20.) The Capri is a fantastic old one screen movie house where, incidentally, my buddy Scott Teems' highly lauded film That Evening Sun (starring Hal Holbrook) will play April 9-15. If you have the chance to see this movie, do, in any theater, wherever.
The Cross Garden
I had the chance to talk with a number of Montgomerians who watched God's Architects last night, and again and again they recommended I visit W.C Rice's Cross Garden (plenty of fine pictures at this link...check it out) a divinely inspired collection of crosses made from scrap wood and telephone poles and a garden of air conditioning husks that each tell, in hand-painted lettering, of the horrors that lie in wait for the unrepentant.

It is quite a place...less structural and architectural and more of a spiritual-yard-art-garden. Rice was apparently a sweet guy who cared deeply for the unrepentant. He didn't hate or condemn his neighbors...he just had a lot of pity for hellbent types, so much pity that he felt compelled to remind them again and again and again, in semi-ironic and heartfelt fashion, of just how hot it would be down there. (In my opinion, it's rare that one labors over such things out of hatred for others, and though I didn't have the chance to meet him, I don't think Rice did all that work out of spite or anger.)

If you're in the neck of the Prattville woods, make a pilgrimage out to the cross garden and bear witness to the result of what must have been years of work.


Jackson
Recently arrived in Mississippi's capital...that's two capitals in two days. No cemeteries yet, but I've still got 2 hours before the show, which is playing over at Millsaps College at 7:30pm.

Tomorrow I head east to South Carolina for a show at Clemson. I don't know a soul there, but when in Nashville, I did meet the siblings of a fella named Kerr (pronounced "car"). We'll see if I see him.

I'm Going to Jackson

I've suddenly become an old fart.

Here at Millsaps College in Jackson, MS, all the profs are younger than me, and downright energized:  A gracious host, Prof. Brent Fogt takes me out for a quick bite; psych prof Melissa Lea has the video projection system racked up and ready to go, and the screening and Q+A go well.  I mistake art department chair Sandra Murchison for a grad student.  She graciously chats me up about Trimpin while I contemplate my senescence. 

The next morning, I fly out of Jackson.  

Thinking back on the first half of my Southern tour, I can't get over how culturally rich this stretch of the country is:  In a very short time, I've passed through the hometowns of poet Arna Bontemps, blues harpist Little Walter, zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier, country music legend Jimmie Rodgers, country superstar Hank Williams, chef Paul Prudhomme, piano genius James Booker, baseball legend Cool Papa Bell, gospel great Claude Jeter, architect Samuel Mockbee, composer John Luther Adams, and countless others.

In the airport, a poster tells the story a different way:

  

Yes, we can read.  

Some of use can even write.

Underneath, photographs of William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Richard Wright, Willie Morris, Shelby Foote, Barry Hannah, Richard Ford, Donna Tartt.

Enough said. 

an unexpected pilgrimage

(The future of theatrical documentaries?)

From Montgomery, Alabama to Jackson, Mississippi, it's a straight shot east on I-80.

The road takes you through some of the most hallowed ground in civil rights history,

through a terrain of pain and martyrdom, stuggle and triumph:

Montgomery, Alabama.

Selma, Alabama.

Philadelphia, Mississippi.

 Jackson, Mississippi.

For me, it's an unexpected pilgrimage.

(If you don't know why this bridge is part of history,

look it up:  Selma, Alabama. March, 1965.)

(In Selma, Alabama.)  

Refuge in Jackson

I fled a thunder and hailstorm this morning in DC to arrive happily in the balmy warmth of Jackson MS. At the airport I met up with my companion for the next (and final) leg of the Tour -- my mother.

Yes, my mother.

And no, not because I am 16 years old, but because, on the contrary, I am a married mother of two little kids living across the country, and mom never gets to see me. So we thought this would be a good opportunity for some quality mother/daughter time. Which I'm sure it will be.

It's just that it's a little odd explaining to the venue hosts that I am bringing my mother with me.

So here we are in Jackson MS, which I haven't seen all that much of. We rushed straight from the airport to the screening, held at Millsaps College and hosted by the charming Melissa Kelly, a psychology professor at the college and a wonderful dinner companion. At five minutes to the start of the film, there was a sparse scattering of students in the theater, and I started to get a little nervous. Thank goodness for the perennial tardiness of college kids though, they all came pouring in with seconds to spare and the screening was packed. They were a fantastic audience, laughing at throwaway shots and little verite moments that I thought only I appreciated. I saw more than one student crying at the climactic moment, and heard audible gasps when the tension was high. Seriously, I love these guys. I want to rent them to come to all my screenings.

As the lights came up and the Q&A started, I realized that a significant section of the audience was part of the white Greek system on campus, sororities and fraternities, and a few boys were even members of the Millsaps chapter of KA, a fraternity I show in my film parading around in front of the black sorority house in Confederate uniforms for their annual "Old South" week. They seemed nonplussed but not hostile towards the film, saying I had done "a good job" but also noting that the Alabama chapter that I showed was the most "decorated" chapter in the KA membership. I'm not sure what you get decorations for in that world (I'm assuming it's not matching your throw pillows with your drapes) but it seemed to be something to be proud of.

I wish we'd had more time to talk about the positive and negative sides of Greek life, but overall I was so thrilled to be able to show the film to these kinds of audiences - young, collegiate, partly Greek. It's really been a strong point of this tour for me, at several of the academic venues. No offense to the usual film festival crowd, which I love, but preaching to the choir has it's limits. Sure they know the chorus, and they'll harmonize with you on key, but you're probably not teaching them any new hyms. Being able to take my argument to these kids though, to watch them consider things from a new angle, maybe make them think analytically about something that they took for granted, well that, in a nutshell, is part of why I made this film in the first place. So screenings like tonight are pretty darn gratifying.

Tomorrow, a renewal of our quest for good BBQ ( we have a good lead in Hattiesburg, 2 hours away) and let's see what Mobile Albama has in store for us.

NOT SO TECHNICAL AFTER ALL

We landed in Jackson, Missisippi and were immediately immersed in the sweet summer air. Eighty one degrees and coming from a raw New York March, it sure felt good. But as is our wont, not three minutes from the airport we were lost. We flagged down a postal carrier who was a Mississippi sweetheart, and he set us straight in no time at all. A little gospel music on the car radio and voila! We were one with the American south!

In short order we were meeting our gracious hosts, Melissa Leo and Melissa Kelly of Millsaps College, and two of their young students, Sarah and Rachel, for dinner at their invitation. Vic, assuming we'd be having barbecue (with confident anticipation) was surprised -- turns out it was Middle Eastern cuisine, in a large, comfortable room complete with overhead fans and a wraparound porch. The food was great!

On to the screening on the bucolic Millsaps campus. It was a great crowd. Interestingly, they were mostly psych majors -- both Melissa's are psych profs, and felt that RANDOM LUNACY would be a good exercise for the students to examine behavior and try to assess what is "crazy?" Poppa Neutrino did not disappoint. The Q&A was lively and it was clear that thought was provoked -- concensus was that yeah, Poppa Neutrino is one complex character.

We write this from the hotel computer, badly pressed for time to get to the airport, as our best laid plans have been laid waste. Within a half hour of being in Jackson, Vic dropped the digital still camera into a full bathtub, rendering it unusable (we hope temporarily.) You will note there are no pictures with this blog.

Then, last night Vic proceeded to push every button he could find on his laptop -- the laptop has now gone from wireless to useless.

All that said -- we are having a great time; the screening last night in Jacksonville was wonderful. The crowd was very diverse, ranging from very young (a kid of about nine or ten) to not so young. They also responded thoughtfully and enthusiastically.

Now -- off to Louisville.

Screenings #7-8, Recollected.

#7: Capri Theatre, Montgomery, AL
This screening would serve as a good example of the less successful bits of the tour thus far, although there were a few shining lights, to be sure. Our voyage from the wonders of Columbia to Montgomery was the longest thus far and likely the least enjoyable. We'd been on the road for ages, and would've been completely late to the screening if not for the magic of Central Time. Which is to say, we crossed an invisible line and gained an hour, but still arrived under the cover of night. We were fortunate to have two good friends (from Suriname!) meet us there, a working Xenon projector in the theater, and a really enthusiastic audience member or two (there were only 10) in the screening - she got us to talk about the fundamentals of our work in a way that the previous 6 screenings hadn't. Why did we go? What did we learn? What did Benjen and the other actors get from the experience? Why is this work important?
Aside from the questions and the friends, my gripe about this screening is that we (the filmmakers) felt more than a bit superfluous. I felt like we were gigging - showing up at a space, setting up, breaking down, and leaving as we'd come. The excitement, interest, and aura (hospitality?) that we'd felt in other places was lacking, and staying in an anonymous highway motel after the show certainly didn't help. Montgomery? Sadly, it's as if we were never there.

#8: Millsaps College, Jackson, MS
We crossed the border to Mississippi unknowingly, each previous border crossing met with a "Goodbye _____" chorus, and the first building we came across was a self-described General Store/ Town Center. Built 160 years prior and demolished at some point in its lifespan by winds and rain, this General Store had an incredible collection of 1930s children's shoes, still in their boxes. The proprietors were talkative and sharp, calling me to task for my ignorance of Andrew Jackson's Native American scout (to which I responded "Andrew Jackson who?").
Millsaps offered another university-screening, with a kept audience of students who alternately slept, walked out, or stared wide-eyed at the movie screen. This show wasn't my favorite, either, as we were forced to screen off of DVD for the first time in the tour and I was trapped in the far corner of the room and couldn't leave when the radical artifacting of THE WET SEASON began. In spite of this, our hosts were friendly and talkative, and the Q&A was a bit sharper than normal, thanks to the presence of some academic-sorts in the room (I'm an academic-sort, as well). It would've been great to continue that conversation beyond the screening, as that's where one can begin to dig deeper than what a public platform offers (especially after the 8th Q&A for the same set of films), but alas. It was a university show, after all, and our hosts all had to work the next day...
We managed to find some fiddle players and a boyfriend/girlfriend cover duo on the side streets of Jackson, rubbed elbows with the locals and conjectured as to whether the broader terms of Southern Hospitality extend to Mississippi as well (surly bartenders, hotel employees, and falafel servers all).

Guerrilla Radio: Jackson, MS

As soon as we stepped off the plane in Jackson, the competition for our younger demographic was closing in. We found out that Barak Obama slated his appearance in Jackson just an hour before our screening – most likely to steal some of our younger audience members. But Senator Obama’s clever move did not hinder our young audience from attending the screening right after his speech. Ha, Ha, Obama! You couldn’t out smart the GR crowd!
Also, going on at the same time (and right across the hallway from our screening) was a debate on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It didn’t seem to be a problem until a couple minutes into the documentary 20 older ladies got up and left and we received 20 students decked out in the latest Baby Phat street wear who had been sitting in the resurrection debate. Also, we found out through our Southern Circuit liaison that Chelsea Clinton was in town the day before, stumping for her mom - representing the “hipster crowd” we were told, even though I don’t think too many “hipsters” are dating hedge fund managers like Chelsea but what the heck do I know. -- Simon

Which statement uses faulty logic?

1. Last night in Jackson, MS, a bartender shook my hand when I arrived at the bar. I’ve never had that happen before.

2. I like Johnny Cash .

3. I picked up a hitchhiker today. Randy. I got him in Birmingham and brought him to Atlanta. He was going to work with a relative in construction.

4. Randy had good teeth and a guitar. Someone once told me that I should only pick up hitchhikers with good teeth. I'm not sure why, but I admit I've never picked up someone with bad teeth.

5. During my almost 10 hour drive today, I drove through 6 or 7 bands of rain that were all torrential. Each band lasted less than ten minutes, then was followed by blue skys.

6. I used 120 minutes of my 350 minute cell phone rate plan today.

7. The cell phone is a bad medium for philosophy.

8. I think the cabin is fantastic. Spacious with a hot tub in back, drinks in the fridge, impeccably decorated: Asheville cozy cabins

9. This is the first time I’ve been in a log cabin.

10. After arriving, I went to a biker bar near my cabin.

11. I had a short conversation with someone I couldn’t see on the other side of a bamboo shade on the back porch of my cabin.

12. The caretaker of the cabin told me not to smoke in the cabin six times in the less than ten minutes she was showing me around.

That’s it. At this point, the tour has taken on a blurry quality. Enigmatic moments are happening almost constantly.. It’s a strange mix of observances, feelings, and serendipity, leading me to believe that I can’t really capture the experience in this format (at least in the time I have to spend on it). Maybe tomorrow will bring some focus. My sister arrives, and I’ll try to find a wireless place to post this. Asheville tomorrow.

Eric

Steve Ross - Days 1 and 2

After a fairly tiring day of travel - Athens to Columbus, Columbus to Charlotte, Charlotte to Montgomery, AL - I am in my Malibu navigating the Montgomery roads to get to my first of many motels on the tour. Quick check-in at the Best Western and off to the Capri Theater to meet my contact Martin.

Neurotic New Yorker that I am, I come with multiple DVDs and a DVCAM copy of Liberia: A Fragile Peace; I have the 16mm print, a VHS copy, a DVCAM copy and two separate burnings of the DVD of Fishers of Dar. Just to be sure, I also bring my own video deck (Sony DSR-11) which can play the DVCAM. The Capri is one of only two venues on the tour that "offers" to play 16mm. Truly it seems that 16mm film projection is going the way of the eight track tape. Sad. Sad.

I arrive at the Capri. After being told that the 16mm projector really hadn't been used for years and the sound was questionable, we resolve to test out my deck. All goes well. The video projector at the theater is a beaut and we are all set. Martin and I dine next door, and then the show is on.

A nice-sized audience (Martin had me prepared for the worst) of 60-70 are in attendance. The screening goes off without a hitch. A nice Q&A follows.

I had never seen this double feature before. I am struck how well that they work well together. After watching the whole of Fishers of Dar and the various views of this fisher society and economy, one turns to Liberia: A Fragile Peace where the first shot is of the garbage-laden shoreline in Monrovia. Kind of tells the story of the two countries.

Off this morning for the five-hour drive from Montgomery to Jackson, MS. Yesterday, as many of you know, Hillary (and Bill) and Barack and numerous others, descended on Selma to commemorate Bloody Sunday (March 7, 1965) when Dr. King led the march in Selma on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Today, ironically, I am driving over the very same bridge. I remember back in the 60s and early 70s just having a sense of fear about traveling in this part of the deep South. This was not exactly a tourist destination for hippie boys from the North in those days. Today, on a sublimely clear and beautiful day, the town of Selma, one day after the big doings, was a beautiful Southern town on a normal work day. Live oaks and Spanish moss and a real sense of history.

With Dylan's memoir, Chronicles, on the CD player and a sense of the connection of former freed slaves to the formation of Liberia, there was a lot to think of on this drive.

I am writing from Jackson where the films will be playing tonight to an audience at Milsaps College.

SR

Southern Circuit tour day two - Karl Staven

Southern Circuit tour day two. Jackson, Mississippi was reached after a five hour drive in a rental car formerly used by a chain smoker. The landscape was relatively flat with a lot of standing water at times on the side of the road and Spanish moss hanging from the random tree. It was as if a swamp wished to break out around me but couldn’t because of too much southern sun.

At the hotel I step out of the shower around 5:10pm, knowing that I need to be ready for a 5:30 meeting with Holly Sypniewski. She is Millsaps College Southern Circuit rep, but not for long. When one has an academic sabbatical coming up one can legitimately jettison all academic responsibilities (and be paid for doing so, as I myself have done). So, emerging dripping from the shower I hear the phone ringing. Strange room, unused phone, no glasses on, but I manage to locate the noise and say hi.

Michelle is downstairs ready to take me over to test the dvd playback.

Michelle? But I thought I was meeting Holly?

She’ll meet us there.

No problem. Be down in five minutes.

Putting on fresh clothes, I empty one of my luggage bags, toss in the dvds I’ll need to use for the show, and throw in a bunch of extra dvds for sale in case anyone actually wants to purchase one (they are for sale for $20 at the venue as opposed to $25 online – postage included). Fully clothed with bag on back I head down to meet Michelle to head over to tonight’s venue.

4 hours later after a tasty crawfish dinner with fried pickles and the presentation itself.

Well that wasn’t too bad, double the amount of folks from the last screening. At this rate I’ll fill a stadium at the last Southern Circuit venue. No dvd glitches this time. (In Montgomery I had films freezing at a certain point and films skipping occasionally. Not the fault of the venue but rather the danger of dv and dvd consumer generated media). Dropped a film from the screening that I showed yesterday (cell 724) to make playback easier. Will drop the Piano Dog deleted scenes section at the next venue because of Michelle’s comment (thanks much, and I hope I spelled your name right). Now I can look forward to a 6am plane departure tomorrow morning to Virginia. One of these blogs I’ll actually talk about the screening itself.

Cheers,

Karl Staven 2/5/07

Days 1 & 2

Hi,

I do not have a laptop so blog posts on my tour may be sporadic and will definitely not be coherent on account of exhaustion. Just so you know.

In any case, I arrived in Montgomery, AL yesterday and had a screening of MANHATTAN, KANSAS at the Capri theater last night. The Capri was pretty neat and old and Martin does a pretty golden job of running it. I had ten very kind viewers come to the show. Two of them bought copies of the film. I asked everyone to stand in front of the stage with me for a picture, which they did. It was a pretty good day. I had pizza for dinner, saw Hank Williams grave and then went to my hotel to pass out. Martin gave me a screener of OLD JOY, which I cannot friggin' wait to watch.

9 am the next morning I got into my Pontiac G6 and headed for Jackson, MS, which is where I am right now, at Millsaps College. A very kind Michelle and Holly are taking good care of me. Michelle took me to dinner (Holly had to teach). I had fried pickles, seafood gumbo and crawfish etoufee(sp?). I washed it down with a Bass served in a cold milkshake glass. Neat. I feel very full and sleepy.

Not five minutes ago I introduced the film to a hearty crowd at the Millsaps auditorium; I forgot to thank Millsaps and Southern Circuit and Holly and Michelle. I was nervous. I will remember to thank them during the Q & A; I will also remember to tell the audience DVDs of MHK are on sale on my website: http://lbthunderponyproductions.com/ and that my mom's art -- as featured in the film -- is on sale at http://www.eviewrayartist.com/.

It's strange and wonderful to think that the reason I am in Jackson, MS is because of my movie. I thought a lot about that on the five hour drive from Montgomery. It was just two years ago I was driving across Kansas asking myself why the hell I was driving across Kansas to make a movie about my mom. Well, I can say tonight that I've never been more glad that I did.

I saw these things on my drive today:

a dead chicken (why oh WHY did he cross that road?????)
a dead dog (Beagle)
two dead fawns
several men walking on the shoulder (not together, at different times)
a sign announcing the best fried chicken in Selma, AL can be found at KFC
about a million run down grocery stores
a sign for a catfish farm
a patch of forest that looked to be destroyed by a tornado
a dead cat
a sign that said Trent Lott for Mississippi (which I first read as Trent Lott for President; when I thought it said Trent Lott for President I wondered aloud, "when the hell did that happen?").

Well, that's about it for now. I'm gonna go see if people are laughing and crying at my movie. I hope that they are.

All best,
Tara

Animal Nature, Human Nature

“Human beings have two parts, animal nature and human nature.
The animal part is when people lose their control as humans, their control of reason.”
Ramiro Niño de Guzmán, schoolteacher in “State of Fear”

Perhaps the best question I’ve ever been asked about “State of Fear” came from a Millsaps College (Jackson, Mississippi) student at the screening. She wondered whether I agreed with what Ramiro Niño de Guzmán, the Peruvian schoolteacher said referring to making sense of the violence that consumed members of his family during Peru’s 20-year war on terror.

Of course I agree with it because I put it in the film. But beyond that, I think it is one of the most sublime statements made in the film by someone who has thought about the essence of our human nature. Which is that we all struggle with overcoming the animal nature that exists within us. The audience at Millsaps College discussed the persistence of the death penalty in the United States, quite marked in the south where 11 of the 14 death row inmates reside who are scheduled to begin the torturous countdown to their demise via lethal injection before the new year. When someone has committed an egregious crime against a loved one, our animal nature hungers for revenge---for the perpetrator’s death. Our human nature should long for justice. By not murdering the murderer, we rise above our animal nature and exert the civilizing part of our human nature. It is the irrational, the animal nature that was responsible for systematic killing in Peru, for the death of many civilians in Iraq, and for genocide in Darfur and Guatemala. The Millsaps student’s question made me think about why in “State of Fear” it was so important to cast a light on the reasoning power of human nature by featuring the human rights advocates who effectively ended the war and reinstated the Peruvian democracy.

And here’s a big shout-out to Holly Sypniewski and Michelle Acuff, both vibrant professors at Millsaps College. Fun too. They worked hard to get students from many disciplines to come to “State of Fear”, and brought out members of the community too. You can tell that they are the kind of teachers that are seriously committed to engaging their students in new and different ideas---the kind of teachers you remember long after college.

Jackson: Hotter than a Peppersprout

Monday took me from Montgomery AL to Jackson MS, which required a peaceful 5 hour drive past cotton fields, several dead armadillos, and sadly scores of Title Pawn businesses in every small town. As I listened to cd's of Johnny Cash, Bobbie Gentry and Nina Simone, I drove the historic road that hosted the Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights March. Many famous photos were taken then, and much still looks the same.

I found myself compelled to make a stop in Philadelphia MS, the town where civil rights workers James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were murdered in 1964. Ten miles out of town, on Highway 19, I nearly missed seeing a nondescript sign that read "Chaney, Schwerner, Goodman Memorial Highway". This was the very blacktop where the three young men had been pulled over and kidnapped. It was chilling to say the least. The town, however, doesn't seem to want to remember this horrifying chapter in their history. When I asked a couple of locals if there was a memorial to visit, they didn't know of one.

http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=3199_0_9_0_C

I got to Jackson by 2:30 to speak to a Digital Arts class at host organization Milsaps College. Five students and professor Michelle Acuff greeted me in their computer lab where they were working on some video animation pieces. I was amazed at the range of work, and the sophistication of some of the pieces - much better than when I was in school! Milsaps has only 1200 students and a very small Art Department. But there are dedicated faculty and a supportive environment for budding filmmakers. I only wish they'd asked more questions! (All the students seemed kinda shy).

Dinner was wonderful -- Crawfish Etouffe and Deep Fried Pickles (!!). Several faculty members took me out and made me feel right at home. Later Holly Sypniewski from the Classical Studies Department introduced the film. To a packed house! There were over 130 in the audience! Folks, this was the biggest turnout "Learning to Swallow" has ever seen in its yearlong touring history. I was stunned and grateful. I gotta say - I am loving The Southern Circuit thus far.

Tonight Sweet Briar College. More after the screening....

Danielle Beverly
http://www.learningtoswallow.com