On Monday night, I went to Ball Hall to see another film of the Southern Circuit tour. Hale County This Morning, This Evening directed and produced by Ramell Ross was nominated for an Academy Award and after watching it I totally see why! The film was a documentary on the lives of a group of people who live in Hale County, Alabama. I really liked the raw subjectivity of the film and how purely yet subliminally emotionally charged it was.
After the showing, the filmmaker (Ramell Ross) answered some questions from the audience. I really liked how he articulated his ideas on his creation; he explained how because of his background in photography, he knew what he needed to do to give the scenes a magical effect. He also explained how it was supposed to kind of be open in the way of how viewers respond to it, like poetry. He also spoke on the structure of the narrative and how it aligned more with the structure of music than a book, or something linear– I thought that was a super cool idea and after he said that, I understood the film on a new level. Hearing people talk enthusiastically and personally about their work is something really important to appreciating and understanding art and I’m glad I got the chance to be there for that.
The film was really touching and engaging, and it was special in the way that it was structured and based on so many different levels of creativity. I’d recommend it to anyone, it was a great experience!
THINKING CLAIRE-LY 