Silver Dollar Road Rating

Silver Dollar Road

Amazon Studios, Velvet Film, ProPublica, JuVee Productions

Amazon MGM Studios

Release dates

September 8, 2023 (TIFF)

October 13, 2023

October 20, 2023 (Prime Video)

My Rating 

6/10

#whatonwhatsgood Fan Club Rating 

65%

Running time

100 minutes

Description

From Academy-Award Nominee Raoul Peck, Silver Dollar Road follows the story of the Reels family as told by the matriarch Mamie Reels Ellison and her niece Kim Renee Duhon, two fierce women defending their rights and fighting to protect their ancestor's land and their brothers and uncles Melvin and Licurtis,who were incarcerated for eight years for refusing to leave their homes -- becoming two of the longest serving inmates for civil contempt in the country.

This documentary, based on the 2019 ProPublica article, highlights the ways the legal system is exploited to limit land ownership in the Black community and further contributes to the racial wealth gap.

Directed by

Raoul Peck

Written by

Raoul Peck

Based on

Kicked Off The Land by Lizzie Presser

Produced by

Raoul Peck, Blair Foster, Rémi Grellety and Hebert Peck

Cinematography

Henry Adebonojo and Antonio Rossi

Edited by

Alexandra Strauss

Music by

Alexei Aigui

Raoul Peck director's statement 

The first time I met the Reels family was for Grandmother Gertrude Reels' 94th birthday. This was a unique opportunity to meet the immediate and extended family, as well as their friends, who had made the long journey to this small house on Silver Dollar Road, at the edge of Adam Creek. And there, paradoxically, I found myself at home. I relived the same expressions, warmth, happiness, and even ordinary disputes observed between family members, whether they be, uncle, aunt, grandfather, cousin, or nephew. The same festive, friendly, and benevolent atmosphere of a Sunday barbecue, of a solemn birthday, made up of speeches and stories from the oral family memory, of these noisy reunions, complete with happy reconciliations or little family stories still unresolved.

All of this did not really surprise me. What touched me rather deeply was realizing it was all happening within a few hours’ plane ride from New York, in one of the most celebrated tourist destinations on the East Coast. A microcosm, surrounded by millionaires’ villas, resting across the waterway where the most expensive yachts in the world crisscross. And a few steps to your left lead you to the neighboring forest, where you risk encountering the rarest of venomous snake species.

At that very moment I felt that I was in a familiar place and at the same time also plunged back into an era and atmosphere that I thought had disappeared forever. This simplicity of life, this anchoring in the land and in family, in the historical context of this country, all seemed common and resonated with me. My response was that this existence needed to be told and defended. 

I have come to understand and discern the deep history that underpins this family's story and the fact that this experience has been extremely painful and disruptive. I grasped how in many respects it reflects the harsh historical reality of this country and how more than ever it is symbolic of the explosive situation that exists today. It exposes the dilemma of those who would wipe the slate clean on a national history that is as violent as it is painful, to redeem the traces of their ancestors' misdeeds, while others cling to this official history, because it is personal and fundamental to them. For it is the root, and the very proof of their existence in this world. And this story, which has become mine as well, demanded to be told. Equipped with this insight, I simply had to trust the people I met. Their infinite generosity, openness, friendliness, without ambiguity, even if certainly, they hoped that finally someone would faithfully tell their story. At no time did they try to make me believe anything other than what was the complete and simple truth. Their anger and indignity was so understandable, they did not impose it on me. Their resistance and revolt seemed even more commendable and justified.

Silver Dollar Road stems from a ProPublica investigation by Lizzie Presser into the Reels family and their decades-long struggle to preserve the land of their ancestors, and in particular, a piece of land on the edge of an inlet, exceptionally attractive to developers. 

In parallel with the research for Lizzie's article, ProPublica had dispatched a small film team to accompany the investigation. In reviewing the material, I discovered powerful moments, images that moved me, rare, strong, dense, and important words. I remember saying to Lizzie, that I couldn't "waste Life" and I was not going to make this film from scratch, because the family had indeed already “given” us so much. We couldn’t just come in and erase it. 

This documentation held immense significance as it served as an exceptional historical record within the family. ProPublica provided us with invaluable insights into the story's dramatic potential, possible structures, and captivating character choices. Our goal going forward was to anchor this material into a robust, focused project, with a clear and cohesive artistic vision. 

I deliberately chose to have Mamie and Kim as the main narrators. Mamie is already, in fact, the oracle, the storyteller, the new matriarch of a story told before her by Gertrude, the other matriarch who just celebrated her 95th birthday in December. The family recognizes her as their spokesperson, coach, priestess, and all-round mother. She started out as her mother's right-hand woman and inherited the torch.

As for Kim, she has a close relationship with Gertrude, who is her grandmother, and her personal experiences and unique perspective on the family's struggle provided a deeper understanding of the systemic issues at play in the family’s history.

Choosing them as the "VOICES'' for the story freed us from any pseudo-''objective" demands that are all too often abused in the usual narrative. A narrative, it should be remembered, in which people like Mamie and Kim are far too rarely represented, and where we seldom hear these stories told by the people concerned in them. African-Americans and marginalized communities are often reduced to mere subjects of analysis or objects of pity. This was a unique opportunity, in these times of dramatic leaps of faith, when we're promised more diversity, more integration, more "truth" to side with those who are at the center of history.