Hale County This Morning, This Evening

THE FILM

Composed of intimate and unencumbered moments of people in a community, HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING allows the viewer an emotive impression of the Historic South - trumpeting the beauty of life and consequences of the social construction of race, while simultaneously a testament to dreaming - despite the odds.

DESCRIPTION

How does one express the reality of individuals whose public image, lives, and humanity originate in exploitation? Photographer and filmmaker RaMell Ross employs the integrity of nonfiction filmmaking and the currency of stereotypical imagery to fill in the gaps between individual black male icons. Hale County This Morning, This Evening is a lyrical innovation to the form of portraiture that boldly ruptures racist aesthetic frameworks that have historically constricted the expression of African American men on film.

In the lives of protagonists Daniel and Quincy, quotidian moments and the surrounding southern landscape are given importance, drawing poetic comparisons between historical symbols and the African American banal. Images are woven together to replace narrative arc with visual movements. As Ross crafts an inspired tapestry made up of time, the human soul, history, environmental wonder, sociology, and cosmic phenomena, a new aesthetic framework emerges that offers a new way of seeing and experiencing the heat, and the hearts of people in the Black Belt region of the U.S. as well far beyond.

THE TEAM

RAMELL ross | Director, Producer, writer, Cinematographer, Sound, Editor

RaMell Ross is an artist, filmmaker, writer, and liberated documentarian. He has been awarded an Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer’s Fellowship, Howard Foundation Fellowship, a USA Artist Fellowship and was a 2022 Solomon Fellow at Harvard University. His feature experimental documentary HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING won a Special Jury Award for Creative Vision at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and 2020 Peabody Award. It was nominated for an Oscar® at the 91st Academy Awards and an Emmy® for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Film. RaMell holds degrees in Sociology and English from Georgetown University and is an associate professor in Brown University’s Visual Art Department. His work is in various public and private collections such as the Museum for Modern Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the High Museum.

JOSLYN BARNES | Producer, edit team

Among the feature films Joslyn Barnes has been involved with producing since co-founding Louverture Films with Danny Glover and partners Susan Rockefeller, Sawsan Asfari, Tony Tabatznik, Jeffrey Clark and Karin Chien are: the César nominated BAMAKO by Abderrahmane Sissako; Elia Suleiman’s THE TIME THAT REMAINS; Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s 2010 Cannes Palme d’Or winner UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES, CEMETERY OF SPLENDOUR and Cannes Jury Prize winner MEMORIA; Deepak Rauniyar’s WHITE SUN; Lucrecia Martel’s multiple award winner ZAMA; Nadine Labaki’s 2018 Cannes Jury Prize winner CAPERNAUM, nominated for the César, BAFTA and Oscar® awards for Best Foreign Film; Hilal Baydarov’s IN BETWEEN DYING and CRANE LANTERN; PRAYERS FOR THE STOLEN by Tatiana Huezo, and EAMI by Paz Encina. Barnes recently completed the feature NICKEL BOYS for RaMell Ross, which she co-wrote, scheduled for launch in 2024. She is currently producing the feature HARVEST for Athina Rachel Tsangari, which she also co-wrote. Among the documentaries are: Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner and Emmy® and Oscar® nominated TROUBLE THE WATER; Göran Hugo Olsson’s BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975, CONCERNING VIOLENCE and THAT SUMMER; Eugene Jarecki’s Sundance Grand Jury prize, Peabody and Grierson winner THE HOUSE I LIVE IN; Tala Hadid’s HOUSE IN THE FIELDS and the forthcoming POSEIDON’S SON; the Oscar® nominated and Emmy® winning STRONG ISLAND by Yance Ford; the Oscar® and Emmy® nominated HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING by RaMell Ross; ANGELS ARE MADE OF LIGHT by James Longley; AQUARELA and GUNDA by Victor Kossakovsky; Camilla Nielsson's Sundance Special Jury Award winner PRESIDENT; and the forthcoming TWO STRANGERS TRYING NOT TO KILL EACH OTHER by Jacob Perlmutter, and Lucrecia Martel’s CHOCOBAR. Among the series Barnes is Executive Producing are: the forthcoming SELF-PORTRAIT AS A COFFEE POT by William Kentridge and Debra Granik's CONBODY VS EVERYBODY. In 2017, Barnes was the recipient of both the Cinereach Producer Award and the Sundance Institute | Amazon Studios Producer Award. In 2010, 2018 and 2019 she was nominated for the Emmys®, and in 2018 won the Emmy® for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. In 2018 and 2019 she earned Oscar® Nominations for best Documentary Feature. Barnes served as an Executive Committee Member of the Documentary branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for six years, and is a Co Founder and Executive Board member of DOC-A (Documentary Africa), an ecosystem-building initiative based in Nairobi and led by Mohamed Saïd Ouma of Comoros, that supports interconnected initiatives in content creation, mentored fellowships, labs, audience engagement and distribution assistance across the African continent.

SU KIM | Producer

Su Kim is a documentary producer in New York City and a 2015 Women at Sundance Fellow. Currently, she is producing 'One Bullet Afghanistan' with director Carol Dysinger, 'Sanson and Me' with director Rodrigo Reyes and 'Midnight Traveler' with director Hassan Fazili. Her recent film 'Hale County This Morning, This Evening', with director RaMell Ross and producer Joslyn Barnes, premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Creative Vision and the prize for Best Documentary at the 2018 Gotham Awards. 

MAYA KRINSKY | Co Writer, edit team

Maya Krinsky is an artist and educator. She has an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design and a BA from Bard College, and attended the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program. Krinsky has exhibited internationally, including the Cairo Video Festival, where her short piece “English Lessons" screened at the Gezira Art Center. In 2017 she exhibited several projects funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation at Yeah Maybe in Minneapolis, Minnesota, She teaches studio and seminar courses at RISD and has worked for many years as an English language instructor for immigrants and international students, experience that informs her focus on language and translation.

ROBB MOSS | edit team

Robb Moss’ most recent project, CONTAINMENT, is about the disposition of nuclear waste for now and for the next 10,000 years. Co-directed with Peter Galison, the film premiered at Full Frame in 2015 and has shown in more than forty festivals and other venues, including in Berlin, Paris, Rio, Budapest, Beirut, Sheffield, Cuernavaca, and Tasmania. Art Galleries in Dublin, Sydney and Antwerp have used the film as the foundation for exhibitions, and Moss and Galison re-made the film as an installation piece for the Steirischer Herbst art festival in Graz, Austria. The television broadcast on Independent Lens was in January 2017. Previous films, SECRECY (2008-directed with Galison) and THE SAME RIVER TWICE, (2003) premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and, together, showed in more than fifty film festivals and in over one hundred theatres. THE SAME RIVER TWICE was nominated for a 2004 Independent Spirit Award, and SECRECY was screened by the Congressional Record and the ACLU in an effort to help think through government secrecy’s relationship to national security and democracy.

APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL | Creative Advisor

Apichatpong Weerasethakul is recognised as one of the most original voices in contemporary cinema. His previous six feature films, short films and installations have won him widespread international recognition and numerous awards, including the Cannes Palme d’Or in 2010 with UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES. His TROPICAL MALADY won the Cannes Competition Jury Prize in 2004 and BLISSFULLY YOURS won the Cannes Un Certain Regard Award in 2002. SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY (2006) was recognised as one of the best films of the last decade in several 2010 polls. MYSTERIOUS OBJECT AT NOON (2000) his first feature has been recently restored by Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation.

DAN TIMMONS | SounD Recordist & Re-recording mixer

Dan Timmons, a native of Rochester, New York, lives and works in New York City as a sound designer for documentary and feature films. His family proudly runs two generations deep as employees of Eastman Kodak. With each film he is involved with, Dan would like to push the medium forward as a tool to bring compassion to our disparate little space rock.

TONY VOLANTE | re-recording mixer

Before starting his film career mixing Todd Solondz’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, Tony Volante spent 15 years recording and mixing music for Grammy winning recording artists like Donald Fagen of Steely Dan and Roger Daltrey of The Who. Tony applied his music career experience to enhance many music related films including Phish BITTERSWEET MOTEL, Herbie Hancock’s POSSIBILITIES, The Ramones END OF THE CENTURY (Grammy nominated), Lou Reed BERLIN, Patti Smith DREAM OF LIFE, Lee Scratch Perry THE UPSETTER, Tony Bennett THE ZEN OF BENNETT, Fela Kuti FINDING FELA, Nina Simone WHAT HAPPENED MISS SIMONE (Grammy nominated, Oscar nominated, Emmy winner). Tony’s film mixing career has spanned over 22 years. He was instrumental in starting from the ground up two highly respected film divisions, first, Soundtrack and then second, Sound Lounge. Throughout his career he’s worked with some of the most respected filmmakers in the industry including Derek Cianfrance, Oren Moverman, Jim Jarmusch, Joel Schumacher, Alex Gibney, Doug Liman, Ron Howard, Jonathan Demme, Liz Garbus, to name a few. Tony has been nominated for 2 Prime time Emmy Awards (Outstanding Mixing WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE and Outstanding Mixing GOING CLEAR) and an MPSE nomination for Best Sound Editing WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE.

DANNY GLOVER | Executive Producer

In addition to being one of the most acclaimed actors of our time, with a career spanning 30 years from PLACES IN THE HEART, THE COLOR PURPLE, the LETHAL WEAPON series and the award-winning TO SLEEP WITH ANGER, Danny Glover has also produced, executive produced and financed numerous projects for film, television and theatre. Among these are GOOD FENCES, 3 AM, FREEDOM SONG, GET ON THE BUS, DEADLY VOYAGE, BUFFALO SOLDIERS, THE SAINT OF FORT WASHINGTON and MOOLADE, as well as the series COURAGE and AMERICA'S DREAM. Since co-founding Louverture Films, Glover has executive or co-produced BAMAKO, AFRICA UNITE, TROUBLE THE WATER, SALT OF THIS SEA, SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION, DUM MAARO DUM, THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE, THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MCKINLEY NOLAN, THE HOUSE I LIVE IN, HIGHWAY, THE NARROW FRAME OF MIDNIGHT, CEMETERY OF SPLENDOUR, WHITE SUN and STRONG ISLAND. He associate produced THE TIME THAT REMAINS and the 2010 Cannes Palme d’Or winner UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES. The recipient of countless awards for his humanitarian and advocacy efforts on behalf of economic and social justice causes, Glover is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from Amnesty International.

SUSAN ROCKEFELLER | Executive Producer

Susan Rockefeller is a partner in Louverture Films and a documentary filmmaker whose in-depth look at critical issues has won top awards at many film festivals across the United States and around the world. Her recent efforts include producing and directing the HBO documentary MAKING THE CROOKED STRAIGHT, which received a Christopher Award; and directing and producing STRIKING A CHORD on the ability of music to help heal Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD). She directed and produced MISSION OF MERMAIDS on ocean health, and is currently in production on two films: one about agricultural breeders, farmers and chefs; the other on Bach's COFFEE CANTATA. When she’s not making films, Susan designs message-inspired jewelry to raise awareness about protecting family, art and nature, and sits on the boards of Oceana, the We Are Family Foundation and the program committee for The Stone Barns for Sustainable Agriculture.

BERTHA FOUNDATION | Executive Producer

Bertha Foundation dreams of a more just world and supports forms of activism that aim to bring about change. The foundation champions those using media, law and enterprise as tools to achieve their vision. It envisions a society where stories come from many different voices, where law is used as a tool for justice and where business delivers positive social impact. It works with a network of people whom we believe can change the world - activists working with storytellers and lawyers. While powerful on their own, the Foundation also look for opportunities for leaders to collaborate across portfolios.

LAURA POITRAS & Charlotte Cook | Executive ProducerS for Field of Vision

Laura Poitras is a filmmaker and journalist. Her film CITIZENFOUR won an Oscar® for best documentary, as well as awards from BAFTA, Independent Spirit Award, and the Director’s Guild of America. The first film in her 9/11 trilogy, MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY, was nominated for an Oscar. The second film, THE OATH, was nominated for two Emmys. Her reporting on NSA surveillance shared in the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for public service. She received a Peabody Award for her film Flag Wars. She recently exhibited her first solo museum show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She is a co-creator of Field of Vision.

Charlotte Cook is a curator, writer and producer. Prior to Field of Vision, she was the Director of Programming at Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival. In London, Charlotte was the Head of Film Programming at The Frontline Club. She has also worked with BBC Storyville, the Channel 4 BritDoc Foundation’s Puma Creative Catalyst Fund and the Edinburgh International Film Festival, where she curated the strand Conflict | Reportage. In addition to her work at Field of Vision, Charlotte is currently a programmer at CPH:DOX.

LYNDA WEINMAN | co-executive Producer

Lynda Weinman is a philanthropist, film producer, and former entrepreneur. Weinman is best known as co-founder of lynda.com, one of the earliest online learning companies. In 2015, Lynda was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for her contribution to the field of distance learning by Otis College of Art and Design. She has held faculty positions at ArtCenter College of Design, UCLA Extension, AFI and San Francisco State Multimedia Studies. Weinman’s passions include film, design, women's issues, philanthropy for the arts, and inventing the future of learning. She currently serves as the President of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and actively invests in numerous independent films and documentaries.

PRESS COVERAGE: NEW YORK, JANUARY 7, 2019

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