Courtesy of Daniel Fiore
Shelby Stanga, captured in Daniel Fiore's film "Shelby."
In recent years, filmmakers in Louisiana and Mississippi have followed scientists into ancient, disappearing ecosystems, focusing in on their hands as they plant seeds ensuring a future. Some traveled around the country seeking out aging civil rights activists to ask them what they remembered of a largely forgotten hero. Others sat in close quarters with convicted criminals as they detailed the devastating abuse they faced while incarcerated. One man took his camera out into the swamp, alone—and what he found there kept him coming back for more than a decade. Our regional filmmakers have stepped into alternate worlds in the middle of our communities, where language is not heard or seen, but felt; and immersed themselves in the indescribable euphoria of HBCU football and its soundtrack.
The Film & Literature issue at Country Roads is one of our favorites, because it is full of stories about stories. Here are six of these stories, told via the art of documentary, that we found especially compelling.
Read about director Daniel Fiore's film, Shelby, here.
Read about The Quiet Cajuns, produced by Phyllis Griffard and Connie Castille, here.
Read about director Jillian Godshall's film, Louisiana Grass Roots, here.
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