British Council Logo UK Films Database
Project Detail

Routes

Synopsis

In August 2005, inspired by Harry Smith's anthology of American Folk Music, London DJ Alex Reuben set out alone on the American Road, fulfilling a lifelong dream to document the social dance of southern USA. His childhood inspiration to dance had been the music of New Orleans and Fats Domino. Reuben traveled from North Carolina to Memphis, Tennessee and onto Mississippi. Hurricane Katrina halted his journey towards Fats, and Louisiana. The result is a dance road movie that gives insights into lesser-known forms of American dance and music culture and the lives of extraordinary Americans. Set against the US federal governments' woeful response to the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina, at a time when Americans were questioning their position on the war in Iraq, we explore Appalachian Clogging, Hip-Hop, Stepping, Mamphis Marching Bands, Mississippi Fife and Drum, Cajun and Zydeco.

A Capture commission for Arts Council England.

Details

Year
2007
Type of project
Features
Running time
80 mins
Format
DVD, BetaSP
Director
Alex Reuben 1st Feature
Producer
Alex Reuben
Editor
Jane Hodge, Alex Reuben

Genre

Music Dance

Categories

Fiction Documentary

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Alex Reuben

40 Hornby House
Clayton Street
London SE11 5DA
UK

T+44 (0)20 7735 6386

M +44 (0)7956 442 205

info@alexreuben.com

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

Suggest amendments

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Man holding a skull looking tortured Elsinore

Director: Simon Stone

Year: 2026

The powerful, deeply moving and inspiring true story of the actor Ian Charleson who faced incredible odds while preparing to give the performance of his life in Hamlet. Official Selection Telluride Film Festival 2026 Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2026

Drama
Oliver Cromwell death mask: The death mask of Oliver Cromwell, from the British Museum collection, displayed in a rectangular wooden case. Landscapes of Shame

Director: Patrick Hough

Year: 2026

Filmmaker Patrick Hough journeys through the haunted landscapes of Ireland, where colonial violence, ecological loss and queer desire remain inscribed in the land. Moving between forests, mountains, archives and cruising grounds, the film traces the extinction of the Irish grey wolf alongside the cultural suppression that followed Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. Fragments of history surface through objects and places: a death mask of Oliver Cromwell, medieval myths of werewolves, maps drawn to measure and divide conquered territory, and landscapes where wolves were once hunted to disappearance. These materials are interwoven with contemporary nocturnal scenes of queer gathering and protest, where shame gives way to transformation, pleasure and resistance. Blending essay film, documentary and poetic fiction, LANDSCAPES OF SHAME asks how violence survives in landscapes, language and bodies - and what forms of wildness still remain. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2026

Art / Artists Biography Climate / Environment Experimental History
Cliff edge shrouded in fog, with the outline of a small building. Restless Sea

Director: Alex Nevill

Year:

Temperatures rise, oceans acidify, storms roll in, coast lines shimmer and degrade. Stories bubble up, mythology, folklore, tales of a perilous sea, communal rituals for protection and harmony with nature. RESTLESS SEA is an immersive installation exploring climate resilience in coastal Hebridean communities, a chain of islands west of Scotland.

Climate / Environment Experimental Scottish