South

Chantal Akerman's 1999 documentary was shot in a town in the American south. Its starting point is the killing of a Black man in Texas in 1998, dragged behind a vehicle; Akerman goes to the place and talks with people in the town. The documentary does not recount the murder. The camera dwells on roads, trees and porches; interviews are cut in but the narrative does not put events in order. The history of violence appears indirectly inside what people say. The best known passage is the close. The camera travels the road along which the man was dragged from one end to the other, and the shot runs very long; the narrative leaves it without comment. Who it's for: those who follow essay documentary and Akerman's cinema. Who it's not for: viewers expecting informative reporting; the film does not give the detail of the event and its subject is a racist murder.