Sunday Matinee: Mossville: When Great Trees Fall [Film]

 

“Mossville: When Great Trees Fall is a powerful and intimate documentary exposing the link between race and environmental injustice.  It’s the story of a centuries-old black community in Louisiana, contaminated by petrochemical plants, struggling with the loss of its ancestral home. The film focuses on one man who stands in the way of a plant’s expansion and refuses to give up on his family home – and his community.” – Maggi Simpson PR

 

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Today we have an absolutely mind-blowing and insanely frustrating film to share with you all today. Mossville: When Great Trees Fall should not only be watched for informative reasons, it should be a god damned message to say the least. Imagine if everything you ever knew was literally taken from you. What if you lived with knowing that a major corporation that is hell bent on destroying the earth for profit, is willing to do whatever it means to move you out of their way? Even if that means essentially murdering you? How do you think you would handle this situation?

The world is in a mass hysteria right now over COVID19. People are understandably furious about the governments reactions to the spread of this virus. But, I implore you all to check out Mossville, and understand that this is not a new concept. Black families have been getting poisoned, killed, and losing their heritage for a very long time now. I am sad to say that I was completely unaware of this, and that is nothing short of white privilege. This I am fully aware of. But it is suffice to say that if you think the rich not giving a shit about the poor is a new concept, you really need to look deep inside your own soul as well as do a bit more research. The genocide is continuous. And it is only the poor who suffers. Always.

 

 

Watching the “residents” of Mossville struggle to retain what little bit of an identity they have to the place they grew up is probably one of the most heartbreaking things I have witnessed on film in a very long time. The actions of one of the film’s subjects, Stacey Ryan, is absolutely commendable, and he should be proud of what he accomplished. He is definitely a stronger man than I would be, I’ll tell you that much for free.

This film from documentarian filmmaker Alexander Glustrom is another example of a film that should be shown in social studies classrooms across the globe. It’s a beautifully made film about a very ugly situation, and I implore you all to check it out as soon as possible.

 

MOSSVILLE: When Great Trees Fall will be broadcast nationally on the PBS series Reel South beginning May 25 and on the world channel beginning May 31st.

 

<p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/145085489″>&quot;Mossville: When Great Trees Fall&quot; Trailer &ndash; In Theaters March 2020</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/fireriverfilms”>Fire River Films</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a&gt;.</p>