Sundance 2022 Exclusive: Director Margaret Brown talks Documentary film ‘Descendant’
Making its World Premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and playing in the U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION is DESCENDANT by director Margaret Brown. The film was produced by Essie Chambers and Kyle Martin and executive produced by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.
History exists beyond what is written. The Africatown residents in Mobile, Alabama, have shared stories about their origins for generations. Their community was founded by enslaved ancestors who were transported in 1860 aboard the last known and illegal slave ship, Clotilda. Though the ship was intentionally destroyed upon arrival, its memory and legacy weren’t.
Now, the long-awaited discovery of the Clotilda’s remains offers this community a tangible link to their ancestors and validation of a history so many tried to bury. Brown also reveals the enduring power imbalance that persists between the descendants of Timothy Meaher, the man who chartered the illegal expedition, and the descendants of those who were enslaved aboard it.
Margaret Brown is a filmmaker best known for directing and producing Be Here To Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt; The Order of Myths, a 2008 Sundance Film Festival selection about the segregated Mardi Gras celebration of Mobile, Alabama; and the Emmy-nominated documentary The Great Invisible, about the BP oil spill and aftermath in the Gulf in 2010.
Blackfilmandtv.com’s Wilson Morales caught up with Brown as she spoke about the long journey of researching and putting together this historical story that many should see and remember.