Project Detail

Southern Journey (Revisited)

Fifth Column Films

Synopsis

In 1959 the legendary ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax set out on a road trip through The Southern States. Recently returned from years of voluntary exile during the McCarthy era, his goal was to collect a definitive cross-section of traditional American roots music, using prototype stereo tape-recorder. This was a world on the cusp of monumental change, the recordings that Lomax made serve as both a peerless collection of traditional music and a social document of the times. 60 years on, SOUTHERN JOURNEY REVISITED follows the route that Lomax previously traversed - searching out the remaining echoes of the recordings he made along the way. Alongside the music, the documentary takes the pulse of a nation, surveying what has and has not changed, for good and for bad, in the 6 decades since Lomax trod the self-same path. Inspired partly by the negative stereotypes of the South that predominate both in Europe and the rest of America, the filmmakers set out to see for themselves if those stereotypes held any water. What emerges is a rich and varied tapestry that gives the lie to any reductive theories about the people and politics of the land that lies “Away, Away, Away Down South”.

Details

Year: 2020
Type of project: Features
Running time: 75 mins
Format: Digital
Director: Rob Curry, Tim Plester
Producer: Paul Williams
Executive Producer: Matthew Shaw
Editor: Rob Curry, Tim Plester
Director of Photography: Damien Calvo

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Fifth Column Films

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When we started this journey several years ago, there was no expectation at all that Shirley would ever sing again. What initially attracted us to making the movie was Shirley’s deep commitment to English folk tradition, and her little-known involvement in arguably the most important field-recording trip of all time; back in 1959 with her then-lover, the iconic ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. The film was going to be about the past, and about the 30 years she had spent living without the thing she loved most. It’s been an absolute privilege to be with Shirley on this long journey back to her singing again, and along the way, the film has evolved into something we never expected. Official Selection Rotterdam International Film Festival 2018 - International premiere

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Adventure Black Disabilities Human Rights LGBTQIA+

Southern Journey (Revisited)

Synopsis

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Production Status

Production Company

Fifth Column Films

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