Booker's Place: A Mississippi Story
While filming a documentary on racism in Mississippi in 1965, Frank De Felitta forever changed the life of an African-American waiter and his family. More than 40 years later, Frank's son Raymond (director of City Island) returns to the site of his father's film to examine the repercussions of their fateful encounter. This intensely personal film about children struggling to understand their parents is also a heartbreaking portrait of the legacy of intolerance.
Director: Raymond De Felitta
Starring: Frank De Felitta, Yvette Johnson, Vera Douglas, Katherine Jones,Raymond De Felitta
This remarkable new documentary from Raymond De Felitta ("City Island") fruitfully revisits the aftermath of a TV doc that his father, Frank, produced for NBC in 1965.
The film, which plays like "The Help" minus the safety net of nostalgia, provides a powerful reminder that as we all carry history with us, it is still possible for each of us to change it.
The director illuminates how the town's racial and economic dynamics have changed, while simultaneously reflecting on the ethics of nonfiction filmmaking. It's a powerful testament to how far we both have and haven't come.
Frank De Felitta's guilt over having aired the footage is moving, yet it's ultimately countered by this piercing film's stance - promoted by the subject's proud children and grandchildren - that Wright's statements, far from a slip of the tongue, were an intentional act of courageous defiance.
Beautifully put together in just about every way, it will be potent stuff on the small screen but deserves its moment in theaters.
Lynn Roer
International Documentary Association (2012)
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