Educational Media Reviews Online

Travis Wilkerson brings an artist’s touch to this exceptional autobiographical documentary about growing up under the shadow of a racist white grandfather who went uncharged in the murder of Bill Spann, a black man, in Dothan. Alabama in 1946. He demonstrates an acute personal sensitivity about the implications of such an event – whereby his family remains privileged and untouched while the victim’s family, like so many others of that period, is torn apart.

Wilkerson’s shame from being descended from A.E. Branch is palpable and it is widely shared in his family though not by his aunt, Jean. Quite stunningly, she evolved from a young woman interested in folk music and civil rights to become active in a white nationalist movement and has developed her own justification for her father’s murder of Spann.

The story is beautifully woven with gripping imagery and music and interviews with several relatives and residents of Dothan from the era. The narrative also reflects on Atticus Finch, the beloved fictional lawyer from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and how the author later revealed her original conception of him as a flawed man with racist beliefs.

The fact that such a gifted visual storyteller happened to have such a tragic event in his family history gives this work a depth that is hard to convey in writing.

The work is tonal and an unusual style of documentary filmmaking. It is gradual in its unfolding but its effect is staggering. It is a fascinating piece and highly recommended