Jennifer McArthur’s Family Tree is a fresh story told from a black perspective rarely glimpsed in ecologically minded documentaries. It will hopefully get people excited about the prospect of tending to land in ways they never thought previously possible.
Family Tree chronicles the hard work being put in by two black agrarian families living in North Carolina’s “wood basket.” The Jeffries family is keen to reconnect with their familial roots by learning how to properly tend to and replenish their tree farm. While the sisters (who inherited the property from their beloved grandmother) have to contend with encroaching outside interests, a steep learning curve, and the whims of their own father, they’re determined to honour the farm’s legacy. The Jeffries are put into contrast with fellow black land and business owners, the Williams family, whose patriarch is thinking towards the future and making sure his sons are fully ready to take over operations.
Family Tree tells a story that hasn’t been told before, and does so in a forthright, down to earth manner. The families are constantly learning about stewardship, industry, law, ecology, and most importantly themselves through their work, reframing audience expectations regarding what sustainability looks like in practice. It also looks at proud, resourceful black landowners making the most of their properties in a modern age where racialized peoples have had most of their lands forcefully taken from them via systemic racism and greedy land grabs. Family Tree is about family and fighting the good fight, and hopefully audiences respond in kind to what it’s trying to say about planning for future generations today.
Monday, April 29, 2024 – 1:30 pm – TIFF Lightbox 2
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