By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Margaret Brown
Country: united_states
Year: 2022
Running time: 109
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16376494/reference/
Michael says: “This is one of those documentaries that I can only imagine started out with a particular premise, and as filming commenced, more and more was unearthed around this story that it turned into something so much more. Ostensibly about about the search for the last slave ship to travel from Africa to the U.S. before the Civil War, DESCENDANT evolves into a powerful story about community, history, racial injustice, Zore Neale Hurston and so much more. Part of what makes DESCENDANT so good is director Margaret Brown’s selection of subjects to follow. I’m sure she must have shot footage of dozens of folks — the descendants of the captive Africans who were on that slave ship and formed Africatown in Mobile, AL after they earned their freedom — but the ones featured in the film are so engaging, so compelling, and have such powerful stories to tell. Both important and adept as a film, Brown, whose 1994 doc, THE ORDER OF MYTHS won the Chlotrudis Buried Treasure award in 2009 deserves recognition for this film as well 4 1/2 cats”
Chris says: “Slicker than I would have hoped for from the director of THE ORDER OF MYTHS; fortunately, the Ken Burns homage gradually gives way to cinema vérité and as the story unfolds, it shows how deeply intertwined the personal and the political are in this case (and in most cases, really.) 4 cats”