Possum Town
Director(s): Daniel Christian
Film description: O. N. Pruitt — the "picture man" for the small town of Columbus, Mississippi, during the Jim Crow era — was one of the most prolific photographers of his time. Nearly a century later, a Columbus native who grew up surrounded by the ghosts of Pruitt's work delves into his vast archive of photographic negatives, opening a portal where images of past and present converge in the everyday stories of the town's citizens today.
ERIC SAYS Using as its basis a vast, diverse photographic archive from 100 years prior, Possum Town mines the history of Columbus, Mississippi for a better understanding of the here and now. Director Daniel Christian introduces us to a compelling cast of present-day figures who provide deep insights into Columbus past and present, including the special-collections curator of this wealth of historic photographs, a charismatic politician, a woman running a landmark soul-food restaurant, a loving older gay couple, and a Black lawyer who lives in an Antebellum mansion and collects art from Zimbabwe. Through all of them we feel the regions’s ghosts, as lasting echoes and repercussions of the Civil War, lynchings, and the Jim Crow Era suffuse modern life.
Christian cites as among his influences for this unique essay film such directors as Frederick Wiseman, Steve James, RaMell Ross, Gianfranco Rosi, Mia Hansen-Love, Roberto Minervini, Mati Diop, John Ford, and Robert Greene, and he’s done them all proud here. New/Next is extremely proud to present the World Premiere of Possum Town. (Eric Allen Hatch)
Producer(s): Berkley Hudson, Meredith Farina
Editor(s): Daniel Christian
Cinematographer(s): Cassidy Minarik
Country of origin: USA
Language: English
Year: 2025
Duration: 98 min
Premiere status: World Premiere
