I had the pleasure of being able to view this movie in Lancaster through my film class and got to listen to Director Jude Hagen discuss the importance of the story. For years, this story was covered up and would not be talked about in the town that it took place. It was sort of an embarrassment to the community. The filmmakers caught wind of the story and decided to dig deeper.
The story is about a very rich African American Woman named Ruby McCollum who was a a very respected woman during this time. One day she was driving down the street with her children in the back, stopped at the doctors office, and shot and killed the doctor. No one had realized why, and she was later arrested for it. The film explores the whole case through a few recovered documents and through testimonials. The way the film is shot is great! Between the interviews, the cut scenes to actors portraying people, and the text tracks. The biggest downfall with this movie is that it was very opinionated and seemed to push the agenda without much proof. Most of the people interviewed were either children or grandchildren of witnesses, attorneys, etc. during that time. Also, not a lot of documentation was found because a lot of it had been lost in a fire. All of this points to show that much of what was on the screen being said and shown was drawn not from fact mainly from word of mouth and opinion. Still a very interesting story and worth a watch!
The story is about a very rich African American Woman named Ruby McCollum who was a a very respected woman during this time. One day she was driving down the street with her children in the back, stopped at the doctors office, and shot and killed the doctor. No one had realized why, and she was later arrested for it. The film explores the whole case through a few recovered documents and through testimonials. The way the film is shot is great! Between the interviews, the cut scenes to actors portraying people, and the text tracks. The biggest downfall with this movie is that it was very opinionated and seemed to push the agenda without much proof. Most of the people interviewed were either children or grandchildren of witnesses, attorneys, etc. during that time. Also, not a lot of documentation was found because a lot of it had been lost in a fire. All of this points to show that much of what was on the screen being said and shown was drawn not from fact mainly from word of mouth and opinion. Still a very interesting story and worth a watch!