In her latest film, Descendant, documentary director Margaret Brown points her lens at a decades-long mystery that has cast a shadow on the small Africatown community of Mobile, Alabama.
For generations, residents of the blue-collar town–which was founded by enslaved ancestors–have passed down a sordid oral history of their origin story. Namely, the kidnapping and selling of their ancestors to slave owners back in the 1800s.
What Margaret and her film crew are here to investigate is a local legend that the last known slaving vessel brought to America in 1860–an illegal ship called the Clotilda–is still buried somewhere off the coast of the town of Mobile.
Direct descendants from the Clotilda never gave up hope that one day, the missing ship would be recovered. Although they had no physical evidence to prove that the Clotilda was so close, word of mouth passed down from generation to generation kept its history and memory alive.
The community was in shock when the government agreed to search for the ship in 2018, and it was a miracle when the ship was, in fact, found. As we come to discover, the captain and other men who were engaged in this illegal activity tried to hide their reprehensible act by sinking and burning the slave ship. And it had been kept a secret for over 100 years.
“Many black people don’t know who they are,” says one of the Africatown residents, a heartbreaking fact to comprehend. There are many Americans whose family history has been forever lost due to intentional destruction at the hands of slave owners and other abusers. While that’s a devastating reality, how the community of Mobile, Alabama chose to persevere through hardship is admirable, and is a true testament to their strength and spirit.
One of the strongest scenes from Descendent comes toward the end when a direct descendant of the slave ship captain meets the direct descendants of the slaves his family trafficked over 100 years ago. It’s highly emotional for all involved, but shame is quickly met with grace and forgiveness. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an act of strength shown onscreen before.
In addition to highlighting a community that is totally deserving of a platform to finally tell its story, Descendant also pays homage to the earliest days of storytelling. Before technology, stories were passed down verbally; a total oral history. Now, we rely on visual mediums to communicate and remember our special moments. Descendant proves that history can never be erased if we continue to talk and share our stories, no matter how deeply a secret may be buried.
Distributed by Netflix. 108 min.
In Theaters and on Netflix this Friday, October 21st.
This review originally ran on January 27, 2022, during the Sundance Film Festival.
