{"id":14839,"date":"2012-06-18T10:40:39","date_gmt":"2012-06-18T15:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/?p=14839"},"modified":"2014-09-23T08:32:24","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T13:32:24","slug":"filmmakers-use-visual-oral-histories-to-tell-the-stories-of-mississippians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/filmmakers-use-visual-oral-histories-to-tell-the-stories-of-mississippians\/","title":{"rendered":"Filmmakers Use \u2018Visual Oral Histories\u2019 to Tell the Stories of Mississippians"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

M.B. Green, banjo maker and bluegrass musician, from Louin, Mississippi.<\/p><\/div>\n

OXFORD, Miss. \u2013 What do a potter, a banjo player and a reverend all have in common? They have all been featured on \u201cMississippi Stories,\u201d the latest series produced by the University of Mississippi\u2019s Media and Documentary Projects Center in association with the Center for the Study of Southern Culture.<\/p>\n

Created by producer-director Rex Jones and MDP director Andy Harper, the visual oral histories offer a glimpse into the lives of Mississippians both well-known and not-so-well-known.<\/p>\n

\u201cAndy and I came up with the concept that Mississippi people needed to tell their own stories, and the subjects of these short films are telling them in first person,\u201d Jones said. \u201cThey are short films that capture the essence of the person. We wanted to paint a cinematic portrait, so there is a beginning, middle and an end, with plenty of supporting images. They are beautifully shot, compelling stories about the people all around us.\u201d<\/p>\n

M.B. Green, an 80-year-old banjo maker and bluegrass musician from Louin, shares his experiences of a self-taught banjo career in \u201cCherish the Music.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the poignant \u201cSo Wonderfully Connected,\u201d Merigold\u2019s internationally recognized and award-winning potter Lee McCarty shares insight into his life at McCarty pottery and his late wife, Pup.The third, which Jones is still working on, features the Rev. Samuel \u201cBilly\u201d Kyles, a native of Shelby, who was a longtime leader in the civil rights movement and has been pastor of Monumental Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn., since 1959. He was on the balcony with Martin Luther King Jr. when he shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he told that story, I got goosebumps; it is absolutely spellbinding,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

Jones worked in the computer industry for 15 years and didn\u2019t know much about making movies. However, the Hickory native was bitten by the documentary filmmaking bug when he decided to make a film about an Aberdeen grave dowser. He earned an MFA in science and natural history filmmaking at Montana State University and made conservation films, but decided he was tired of being physically bitten by those bugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to tell more interesting stories, and that is our function at Media and Documentary Projects,\u201d Jones said. \u201cWith these short films, they can be cinematic, they can have a narrative arc, they can be high quality and it\u2019s a wonderful way to get to know people. I would never have encountered these people otherwise, and I try to learn something from them. Each one enriches my life and my experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the future, the plan is for \u201cMississippi Stories\u201d to be shown on public television.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the flagship liberal arts university of the state, we should be engaged in telling stories of the people we serve,\u201d Harper said. \u201cWhen I hired Rex, I knew he knew Mississippi very well. With the cinema minor and the documentary track in Southern studies, this puts us in a position to teach and train students to do just that. This series is a good first step in Mississippians telling Mississippi\u2019s stories and for the next year, we will be going statewide to get these stories and cover our own state and save them for posterity.\u201d<\/p>\n

People are interested in Mississippians and if they take the time to watch the films, they will be moved by them, Jones said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important to get these stories before they are lost. I\u2019m very personally invested in it and I get a lot out of doing them. When you put it together, you\u2019re never finished but you just say I\u2019m done when it hits you, and the hair stands up on your arms. You never know if it\u2019s going to work, but the serendipitous magic is how it all comes together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other \u201cMississippi Stories\u201d will feature a 100-year-old Yazoo City native and the Natchez native who was the economic and revitalization powerhouse behind Memphis in May.<\/p>\n

Watch some of the videos from “Mississippi Stories” below.<\/p>\n

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OXFORD, Miss. \u2013 What do a potter, a banjo player and a reverend all have in common? They have all been featured on \u201cMississippi Stories,\u201d the latest series produced by the University of Mississippi\u2019s Media and Documentary Projects Center in association with the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. 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