COME HELL or HIGH WATER, a documentary on the struggle to save a Mississippi Community settled by former slaves, will have its Washington, D.C., premiere March 30, 2014.
Free screening with special guests on the final day of the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital.
Washington, D.C. – Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek will have its Washington, D.C., premiere on March 30, 2014, on the final day of the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital. The theme of the 22nd annual festival, Our Cities, Our Planet, “will examine the challenges posed by Earth’s urban environments and the efforts of the world’s cities to balance environmental and economic needs.” The free film screening (4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Carnegie Institution for Science, 1530 P Street NW, Washington, DC 20005) will be followed by a panel discussion with special guests including: Derrick Evans of Turkey Creek; Leslie Fields, National Environmental Justice Director for the Sierra Club; filmmaker Leah Mahan; Grist writer Brentin Mock; and Reilly Morse, president of the Mississippi Center for Justice.
Ticket Reservations
Free tickets can be reserved online for the March 30 screening of Come Hell or High Water at the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital (http://comehellorhighwater.bpt.me/).
The film won the Audience Award for Documentary Feature when it premiered at the New Orleans Film Festival in October 2013 and a sneak preview at Power Shift, a national gathering of 8,000 youth leaders held in Pittsburgh, was hosted by the Reel Power project. The film will air on America Reframed in 2014 with the support of the Independent Television Service and Mississippi Public Broadcasting.
Come Hell or High Water follows the painful but inspiring journey of Derrick Evans, a Boston teacher who moves home to coastal Mississippi when the graves of his ancestors are bulldozed to make way for the sprawling city of Gulfport. Over the course of a decade, Derrick and his neighbors stand up to powerful corporate interests and politicians and face ordeals that include Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil disaster in their struggle for self-determination and environmental justice.
“This intimate film tells a gigantic story — about race, about power, about so-called development. But it is also a saga of community, resilience, resistance, and hope. It’s about everything that matters in our society.”
– Bill Bigelow, Rethinking Schools
Filmmaker Leah Mahan worked on the documentary for a dozen years and was invited to collaborate with world-class creative advisors as a fellow at the Sundance Institute Documentary Editing and Story Lab. Other supporters of the film include the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Chicken and Egg Pictures and the Fledgling Fund.
While producing the film, Leah worked with Derrick and the Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health to create a community media project titled Bridge the Gulf that has been a resource to people and organizations across the Gulf South since it launched in 2010. The project has drawn the attention of MSNBC, the BBC, NPR and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The Independent Television Service is supporting a redesign of the site that will launch in March 2014.
For more information:
- Send Leah a message: comehellorhighwaterfilm.com/contact
- Visit the website for Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek (comehellorhighwaterfilm.com)
- Visit the film’s Facebook page (facebook.com/turkeycreekfilm)
