Prom Night in Mississippi Director:Paul Saltzman Writer:Paul Saltzman Rating:N/A Quote:Tradition is one thing-- IDIOCY is another! Morgan Freeman, is the most famous resident of Charleston, MS. This town of 2100 did not integrate its high school until like 16 years after the Supreme Court first ordered schools to do so in 1954. Morgan wanted to encourage the school to stop having separate Proms for whites (who made up 30% of the school) & blacks (the other 70%), and offered to pay for an integrated prom in ’08 (reiterating an unaccepted offer he’d originally made 10 years before). The 80 or so seniors were pretty much all for the idea-- but, as Morgan forecast, some of the white parents didn’t like the idea and pressured some kids to hold an ‘alternate’ prom. This fascinating, wonderfully done documentary interviews students (concentrating on 15) + some of their parents, to tell the story of the integrated event. You meet John Ellis -- the school’s only non-black basketball player whom teammates warmly call ‘White Chocolate’ -- who chances to take 2 girls to the prom, open-minded white Jessica & bright black student Chasidy, + an integrated couple, & other unforgettable people as you learn how they deal with the Prom & its effects on everyone. UPLIFTING & special!
… The advance preview of the film was held at COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. The school’s V.P. & President told how they chanced to see the film when visiting some alums at the Sundance Film Festival in January of ’09, & -- having had a previous acquaintance with Morgan in NY – they were blown away by the film & eager to preview it at the College. After the Columbia showing, there was an exceptional Q&A session with the film’s Canadian 1st-feature-film director PAUL SALTZMAN (who’s won 2 Emmys & has 300 production credits on his resume), Producer Patricia Aquino, consultant TOM SCHLESINGER, & students JESSICA & CHASIDY -- who were touched by the standing ovations they got from the audience in appreciation for their openness and honesty in the film...
… During the talk about the 90-minute film, it was revealed that a total of more than 165 hours of raw footage was shot (including some personal video “Diaries” by some of the students). The 2 ex-students (who’ve been offered scholarships by Columbia) commented on how, although a lot was changed by the integrated Prom, there still is “lots NEED to be changed!”, & they hope to help encourage that by their own future efforts. Chasidy responded to a question by saying that, at first, her initial reaction to the plans to film was, she’d just enjoy “My ’15 minutes of fame’—”, but then realized that there was a lot MORE of importance to the venture…
… Director Saltzman spoke of how they tried numerous times to get COMMENTS by the parents who were promoting the Whites-only “alternate” Prom, asking for the reasoning behind their position-- but they constantly REFUSED to say anything at all. He said, the statements by the local lawyer they’d hired about how they weren’t going to comment because they didn’t want to be stereotyped as “racists”, was actually meant to be a supportive tongue-in-cheek “commentary” on their LACK of cooperation (which the lawyer personally disagreed with). The director said he’d used “GRAPHIC NOVEL” type illustrations to add some additional understanding & power behind the story where there was no filming allowed of certain incidents…
… Some of the panel talked about how change comes SLOWLY to many small towns like Charleston, how many of the white parents still want to be “alone” rather than socialize with townspeople who are different than them-- tho their KIDS mostly tend to have more “OPEN” attitudes, since they’d been going to schools together for years…
… Questions were raised by the audience regarding the white student called “BILLY JOE”, who regularly spoke with his actual identity hidden & his voice changed in the film. The panel explained that, while he himself was very OPEN and comfortable dealing with his black compatriots, he didn’t want his admittedly-racist PARENTS held up to possible ridicule or upsets because of their attitudes; he felt BAD about their positions, but, as he said, they’re older & NOT likely to change, & he was hiding his identity so as to not cause hurt to THEM. The 2 students there were very understanding and protective about him & his position, & declined to directly identify him in any way…
… Saltzman and Aquino spoke of how the film will be shown on HBO on July 20th, & there will eventually be a DVD that will contain some extra “1 year LATER” comments that they intend to film with some of the people in the film. When Saltzman recently spoke to “Billy Joe” about the planned additional filming, B-J kidded that he’d “left the ‘business’—”, & was still unsure about his possible involvement…
… They revealed that, there was ANOTHER Whites-only Prom held THIS year in Charleston-- but it was a vastly “subdued” & “reduced” event compared to the one shown in the film, held at a much smaller non-governmental hall, with no stretch limos, etc.-- so the film has seemingly already had some “IMPACT” in the area. And, an INTEGRATED Prom was also held, this time with just a “contribution” by Morgan and (as he wanted done) with the students & their families helping out with some of their own expenses…
… The filmmakers spoke of how they regularly used a crew of 3 for the 4+ months of filming, almost always shooting with 2 cameras so as to give a more “natural” look to the eventual editing. Then, for the Prom itself, they used a crew of 23 with lots more cameras so as to properly cover all the various different stories and episodes inherent in it…
… To questions from the audience, the students said yes, the integrated couple (Heather & Jeremy) were still TOGETHER as a couple (tho its was difficult for them in that area). And Jessica said yes, she is still WITH her boyfriend T.J. from the film… A number of the students in the film attended a special showing at the OXFORD, MS Film Festival, & were thrilled by the audience’s super-positive reaction to it…
… The 2 students at the Columbia showing felt that, some lives have been transformed to certain degrees by the coverage afforded by the film. They said that, initially, they (& especially certain parents) were a little hesitant about plans for the filming, having fears because they didn’t know what was “under the surface” of it all. But, as time went on, they got more & more COMFORTABLE with the cameras, & people (including Heather’s incredibly open anti-integration father) opened-up more & more, as if the cameras weren’t even “there” (which is the ideal for a documentary!)…
… From answers to questions posed, it was revealed that the local school Superintendant initially wanted “approval” regarding questions planned by the filmmakers & often had people “WATCHING” the crew in its work. Saltzman said the school principal was exceptionally HELPFUL & supportive of their project, talking the position of, “Just do what you WANT!”… The students related how they were surprised at the way the Prom Committee was so “fussy” in gathering details about what DATES were planned for the Prom, insisting that no one be over 21 years of age, wanting all dates to be high school students, & (as Jessica revealed with surprise), insisting there be no SAME-sex dates invited…
… An audience member lady passionately spoke of how she loved the film & feels it needs to be WIDELY-distributed to the public. Saltzman said, they’ve been working hard on finding various ways to achieve that-- by going to Festivals (including Cleveland where some schools directly supported their showings), plans for other showings & methods to reach-out to schools and other institutions including releasing the eventual DVD with STUDY materials, etc…
… After the screening, I was pleased to attend a well-handled reception for the cast & crew. I spoke privately with them all at some length ( = see enclosed PHOTOS), & Saltzman & Aquino agreed that one of the most powerful segments to the film was the incredible OPENNESS of the people involved, especially Heather’s father who, although he didn’t approve of her dating someone of another race, felt she was now of legal age & he wanted her to be HAPPY in her life… Saltzman told me he’s removed 3 minutes of the footage we saw tonight from what’s to be the “final” form of the film, since he considers it to be “superfluous”… As to a FUTURE project, he said he plans to return to working on a civil-rights-related film he’d been working on in Mississippi BEFORE the Prom idea came up there…
…. Jessica & Casidy said they were very familiar with the so-called “Billy Joe” character, & wanted him to keep whatever privacy he sought. They loved the positive reactions to the film by the various audiences around the country, and quite looked forward to their FUTURE education & lives (despite the fact Chicago’s weather can be far different than what they were accustomed to in MS)… All in all, a very HIGHLY-recommended and heartening film experience!...
|
