This Friday, April 18th in New York City and Los Angeles comes what looks to be an illuminating documentary via ARRAY, the multi-platform distribution label of the African American Film Festival Releasing Movement, better known as AFFRM, that we should all support.
Vanishing Pearls, from first time feature film director Nailah Jefferson, follows Pointe à la Hache Louisiana’s African-American and multigenerational oystermen following BP’s disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill from four years ago as they struggle to maintain their businesses and find justice for the atrocity. Jefferson, a Louisiana native, premiered the film just a few months ago at the Slamdance Film Festival and the release this week coincides with the anniversary of the environmental disaster.
The trailer shows how personal the devastation was to the Gulf coast oystermen and how hard they are working to restore their way of life, despite the news or the public acknowledging their existence and the loss of this once bright and thriving area.
“Nailah has created a breathtaking documentary set against one of the worst environmental catastrophes in US history by highlighting the economic and cultural losses with a strikingly personal approach. We’re pleased to work with this exciting new documentarian in connecting VANISHING PEARLS with its audience,” explained ARRAY’s Managing Director Tilane Jones.
You can catch the film in Harlem at ImageNation’s Raw Space and in Los Angeles at the Downtown Independent. The New Orleans premiere occurs on April 29th, but starting next week you can see it in Boston, Houston and other cities.
Watch the emotional trailer and find more release dates for your city at the AFFRM website.
