October 21, 2023
FILM: SILVER DOLLAR ROAD
DIRECTED BY: RAOUL PECK
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Oscar-nominated documentary director Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) returns with the sad story of several acres of land that were given to a Black family following the Civil War. Since then the land has brought joy, freedom, and good memories to the many descendants of that original family. However, there has also been significant strife, racial and legal issues that have plagued its people. Peck spends much of the film interviewing those living on the land as they tell their difficult story surrounding claims that the land doesn’t legally belong to them.
Silver Dollar Road itself is in North Carolina and leads to water which in turns travels its way to the Atlantic Ocean. As such, it is rich in sea life, especially shrimp and crab. That is how some the area’s residents have made a living for decades. But encroaching nearby are the homes built by Whites with money, political power, and yachts. A group known as the Adams Creeks Associates has attempted to remove the Blacks that inherited their large parcel of land. Two members of the family were jailed for over eight years beginning in the late 2000s for refusing to leave and the fight continues today.
Peck takes us on this journey and utilizes family photos, beautifully painted portraits, and video recordings to capture all of the joy and pain of living on this land. What’s striking is how strong this community is. There’s clearly a lot of love for the current and past generations that came before them, including now 95-year-old Gertrude. As such, the film will hit a significant emotional cord with its audience.
Peck though does tend to emphasize this close connection more than the specifics of the legal land battle. It’s clear that these residents feel strongly that this is their property and it is hard to argue against it. What’s missing from the film though are the particulars associated with the legal fight from the perspective of the other side. How can they get away with claiming these people don’t belong to this land? What legal grounds did they have to put two men away for almost a decade? Peck obviously wants us to empathize with the residents and feel their struggle. I think that is very much important here. However, I’d also like to get a larger sense of the grounds the opposing side seems to sit on.
Of course, much of this has to do with racism and those that have money versus those that don’t. The family dealing with the imprisonment of two of its members spent upwards of a $100,000 in legal fees over the course of a decade fighting the system. Meanwhile the nearby town of Beaufort, which was once a haven for the Black residents, has become a shell of its former self. The sense of a Black community there has begun to wither away. Even some of the once thriving farmland has become overgrown and almost impassable due to these various troubles and neglect. Hurricane Irene also had a major impact on the area, leaving many homes and properties destroyed.
Does the film suggest all is hopeless? Absolutely not. This is a community of people full of resolve and strength to take on any group that stands in the way of holding onto their inherited land. It’s also a film that makes it clear that racism and money are still major issues in our society, but at least one family and its cultural community can still stand as a powerful force to fight the enemy.
Silver Dollar Road played at the Chicago International Film Festival. It is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
FILM: SILVER DOLLAR ROAD
DIRECTED BY: RAOUL PECK
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Oscar-nominated documentary director Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) returns with the sad story of several acres of land that were given to a Black family following the Civil War. Since then the land has brought joy, freedom, and good memories to the many descendants of that original family. However, there has also been significant strife, racial and legal issues that have plagued its people. Peck spends much of the film interviewing those living on the land as they tell their difficult story surrounding claims that the land doesn’t legally belong to them.
Silver Dollar Road itself is in North Carolina and leads to water which in turns travels its way to the Atlantic Ocean. As such, it is rich in sea life, especially shrimp and crab. That is how some the area’s residents have made a living for decades. But encroaching nearby are the homes built by Whites with money, political power, and yachts. A group known as the Adams Creeks Associates has attempted to remove the Blacks that inherited their large parcel of land. Two members of the family were jailed for over eight years beginning in the late 2000s for refusing to leave and the fight continues today.
Peck takes us on this journey and utilizes family photos, beautifully painted portraits, and video recordings to capture all of the joy and pain of living on this land. What’s striking is how strong this community is. There’s clearly a lot of love for the current and past generations that came before them, including now 95-year-old Gertrude. As such, the film will hit a significant emotional cord with its audience.
Peck though does tend to emphasize this close connection more than the specifics of the legal land battle. It’s clear that these residents feel strongly that this is their property and it is hard to argue against it. What’s missing from the film though are the particulars associated with the legal fight from the perspective of the other side. How can they get away with claiming these people don’t belong to this land? What legal grounds did they have to put two men away for almost a decade? Peck obviously wants us to empathize with the residents and feel their struggle. I think that is very much important here. However, I’d also like to get a larger sense of the grounds the opposing side seems to sit on.
Of course, much of this has to do with racism and those that have money versus those that don’t. The family dealing with the imprisonment of two of its members spent upwards of a $100,000 in legal fees over the course of a decade fighting the system. Meanwhile the nearby town of Beaufort, which was once a haven for the Black residents, has become a shell of its former self. The sense of a Black community there has begun to wither away. Even some of the once thriving farmland has become overgrown and almost impassable due to these various troubles and neglect. Hurricane Irene also had a major impact on the area, leaving many homes and properties destroyed.
Does the film suggest all is hopeless? Absolutely not. This is a community of people full of resolve and strength to take on any group that stands in the way of holding onto their inherited land. It’s also a film that makes it clear that racism and money are still major issues in our society, but at least one family and its cultural community can still stand as a powerful force to fight the enemy.
Silver Dollar Road played at the Chicago International Film Festival. It is now streaming on Amazon Prime.