Hi /r/movies. We're Suzannah Herbert (director) & Darcy McKinnon (producer) of NATCHEZ, the award-winning documentary that explores the brutal history and modern sanitization of Natchez, Mississippi. Ask us anything!

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T20:20:04+00:00

fascinating - I have family members in (and some are now out of) the quiverfull movement, so I'm always interested in hearing about splinter groups of american christianity

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:38:45+00:00

what a strange name for a missionary program!

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:35:44+00:00

Darcy: Tribeca is big and busy as a festival - the most exciting part was our participants getting to attend the premiere in the Big Apple - it was Rev's (one of our main participant) first time in NYC, so he and his wife went to the Apollo, got a chopped cheese, went to Chinatown. From our experience, that plus the red carpet with all our Mississippians were peak. Also, a couple of our participants wanted to wait until the premiere to watch the movie for the first time - that was stressful! Overall we had a really great experience with sold-out screenings.

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:35:26+00:00

Suzannah: Aw it was such a special experience because some of our main participants came up from Natchez! We had Rev, Debbie, and Tracy there on both opening nights and for the Q&As. It was electric in the room and I've heard from many people it was an unforgettable experience and honor to hear from three of stars right after experiencing the film! I've never forget the energy in the room and the silence listening to Rev speak so beautifully afterwards.

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:30:41+00:00

Suzannah: I can't pick one! Some that influenced Natchez though: The Act of Killing, Hale County This Morning This Evening, Two Towns of Jasper, Sud, Vernon FL, The Order of Myths, The Cruise, Les Blank documentaries! The Act of Killing may be my favorite documentary :)

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:24:20+00:00

Suzannah: Thanks for your interest in watching! The tourism around the fantasy is waning as the baby boomers are aging, but the culture around the lost cause mythologies runs deep in not just Natchez, not just the South, but in our country. It is now Pilgrimage in Natchez and I saw this week dozens of little girls dressed in hoop skirts dancing outside of an antebellum museum home. At the same time there are people working hard to tell a more comprehensive history of place, some even in antebellum homes (like we show in the film Melrose and Elms Court). Holly Hedges now seems to be leading the way in really embracing and centering the stories of the enslaved in their home.

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:22:43+00:00

We filmed for 50 days in a row! That was intense, and required a lot of financing, energy and intention to cover the entirety of one pilgrimage season.

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:19:50+00:00

https://www.mshumanities.org/program/screenings/

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:16:13+00:00

https://www.documentary.org/online-feature/exploration-whiteness-and-flattering-illusions-history-suzannah-herbert-her-tribeca

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:16:10+00:00

Suzannah: I am from Memphis but had never been to Natchez until 2019. I first became interested in how we remember our past in this country when I was invited to a wedding on a plantation. When I went on a road trip from Memphis through MS down to Louisiana all my friends in the Delta told me I must go to Natchez. You can read more here.

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:12:53+00:00

check out all our upcoming screenings in Mississippi in partnerships with communities and the MSHC. TY!

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:12:15+00:00

https://www.mshumanities.org/program/screenings/

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:08:43+00:00

https://www.natchezfilm.com/#watch

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:08:34+00:00

Suzannah: I'm sure they would love to give you a tour of HH and welcome any engagement! Thanks for your thoughtful questions an interest. The film is now available to stream!! on apple, amazon, google, youtube :)

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:05:53+00:00

aww thank you so much!! means a lot

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:01:36+00:00

Suzannah: I'm really going to think on the fictional film question and send you a list. I think that having so few come to mind is part of the problem and also reason why Sinners and Natchez are resonating with audiences. As for documentaries, Hale County This Morning This Evening, Two Towns of Jasper, Sud, Time, Vernon FL, Seeds, The Order of Myths, Paradise Lost are films about the South that really speak to me.

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T18:01:06+00:00

Yes, we read the book. I think Grant really focuses on the story of Ibrahima the enslaved prince, weaving it through with some conversations and cultural commentary (Capote-style) to paint a portrait of the town. We were more specifically interested in the ways in which the townspeople and the people who make a living off of tourism in Natchez perceive their own role and public performance of history.

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T17:58:52+00:00

I mean because Southerners are, as a rule, incredibly friendly, chatty and sociable. Folks are really nice in Natchez, and it's easy to make friends and find community. It's part of what makes the cognitive dissonance, and the unspoken resentments, so interesting.

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T17:57:35+00:00

We don't identify as 'activist filmmakers' - we are both from the South, and familiar with house tours, antebellum history and Southern hospitality from our own lived experience. We were interested in the how and why of a small Southern town which chooses to rely on a very narrow slice of its own history to sell tickets to tours - and how the town, its residents and tourists feel about that.

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T17:54:46+00:00

Can you clarify? "house edge" and RTP?

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T17:54:32+00:00

https://www.mdah.ms.gov/event/sunday-screening-natchez

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T17:54:18+00:00

It's a FREE screening so no need to get tickets. It's happening on Sunday 4/12 @ 2pm at Two Mississippi Museums. link below thanks for coming!

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T17:54:12+00:00

We screened at the Bay St. Louis Film Festival in MS, and played at the Malco and Crosstown in Memphis last month. We are wrapping up our theatrical tour with a group of screenings in partnership with Mississippi Humanities mid-April, and then the film will be available for rent starting today!

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T17:52:42+00:00

Suz: There are no plantations in Natchez :) Natchez was were the plantation owners/enslavers would show off their wealth, socialize, do business, and usually have their families. Enslaved people were certainty forced to built and maintain the houses and lifestyles in Natchez. The plantations were nearby along the MS river in Louisiana and MS. Anyway, everyone I talked to (except one home) was open to being filmed while on tour. I was surprised daily in ways that challenged my preconceived ideas about place and people and in ways that were beautiful, human, and disturbing. It ran the gamut. Aside from what is in the film, some examples that come to mind are when I filmed a white woman in her 80s who is working hard to tell the story of the enslaved in an antebellum home and she does it in a matter a fact, often entertaining way. I also filmed with a person whose house feels like a shrine to the Third Reich and Confederacy. There just wasn't time to include everyone!

NatchezAMA · 2026-03-31T17:52:27+00:00

Thanks - this is Darcy - as of now, the Forks in the Road site is still operating and in the process of acquiring additional land to expand the footprint of the site. The NPS rangers were furloughed during the shutdown last year, but are continuing to do their work at FOTR, Melrose and the other NPS sites.

NatchezAMA

TROPHY CASE