“Sharecrop” Documentary Features Stories From Former Sharecroppers
Rocky Point, NC (BlackNews.com)- Stack Stories LLC is pleased to announce that the SHARECROP documentary is now available for theatrical, educational and community screenings through TUGG.com.
SHARECROP (Stack Stories 2017) is a 90-minute documentary that features stories from ten people who sharecropped between 1930 and 1960. Dr. C Sade Turnipseed, Professor of History at Mississippi Valley State University says, “SHARECROP is one of only a few documentaries that effectively capture the authentic contemporary voice of sharecroppers.”
Featuring rare archival footage and period images, the film conveys what life was really like for cotton sharecroppers in the Mississippi Delta, tobacco sharecroppers in North Carolina, and others. SHARECROP explores their lives, the way they worked, and celebrates the resilience of the South’s “forgotten farmers.”
SHARECROP was featured at the 2017 Cape Fear Independent Film Festival. The Delta cotton segment of SHARECROP features Sylvester Hoover, who grew up picking cotton just a few miles from where Emmett Till was lynched. This segment of SHARECROP was screened at the 2017 Cotton Kingdom Symposium at Mississippi Valley State University, and will also be featured at the 2018 Copa Shorts Film Festival. The stories that former sharecroppers share in the film illustrate defining aspects of sharecroppers’ lives, including peonage (debt bondage), the loss of African American owned farms, impacts of New Deal programs, and the shift in our nation’s population from rural to urban.
SHARECROP director Claudia Stack became interested in the experiences of sharecroppers while making two previous documentaries that focused on schools built by African American communities during the segregation era. An award-winning filmmaker and published author, Stack also produced the SHARECROP Companion Guide (Stack Stories 2017), which provides historic context and lesson plans for the SHARECROP film. The SHARECROP film and companion book were made possible by the generous support of the Middle Road Foundation.
How to Arrange a Screening of SHARECROP
Anyone can request a screening in their area of the SHARECROP film. Simply go to the TUGG.com website and type SHARECROP in the “Find a Film” search bar. TUGG will reserve a local theater and provide the online platform for promotion and ticket sales. There is no financial risk to the person organizing the screening, and that person receives a percentage of ticket sales. Colleges, schools, community centers and others can also arrange screenings through TUGG.com. Director Claudia Stack is available to speak for an additional fee. See stackstories.com for film trailer and link to TUGG listing.
To learn more, visit www.tugg.com/titles/sharecrop or contact Claudia Stack at (910) 264-4469 or claudiaabstack@gmail.com
Also, visit www.stackstories.com for more details about the production company behind the film.
