When the village of Mossville, Louisiana was founded by former slaves in 1790, it was one of the first settlements of its kind. Once a haven for black families in the South, much of the community has since been rendered a wasteland by the activities of the state’s petrochemical industry. A living embodiment of the effects of environmental racism, lifelong resident Stacey Ryan has watched his birthplace steadily transformed and his neighbours aggressively displaced. Now, his trailer and its plot are a solitary patch of green amid an industrial-scale construction zone. With an apartheid-era South African mining company determined to squeeze him out, Mossville documents his stirring last stand. A nightmarish landscape is the battleground for Stacey’s defiant spirit, as he’s forced to choose between a better life for his son and fighting to preserve his ancestors’ legacy.
Preceded by short film Plantae
Filmmaker Guilherme Gehr utilizes marvellous 2D animation to envision a poignant and fantastical call for rainforest protection.