Spanish Lake (2014)

Directed by

Phillip Andrew Morton

Genre

documentary film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 22m

Rated

10

Rating

5.7 of 10 from 6 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary examines the Missouri suburb of Spanish Lake and how it changed from a mostly white community in the 1950s to a mostly Black community through white flight. The film connects this local story to larger issues of racism, political division, and anti-government feeling in America.

observationalsoberingunflinchingthought-provokinggroundedseriousreflective

What happens

Spanish Lake is a 2014 American documentary film directed by Phillip Andrew Morton and co-produced by Phillip Andrew Morton and Matt Jordan Smith. The film premiered theatrically in St. Louis, Missouri on June 13, 2014. The documentary chronicles the area of Spanish Lake, Missouri and its transformation from a 1950s white suburb to a mostly black population through a process known as white flight. The themes of the film parallel America's growing political divide, underlying racism, and rise of anti-government sentiment. After strong ticket sales in St. Louis, the film received a limited release in Los Angeles and Dallas. Further theatrical expansion was halted in St. Louis in August 2014 after the shooting of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Due to racial tensions in the city, Wehrenberg Theatres pulled the film from its planned release on September 5, 2014. The suppression of the film led to national media coverage, including an article by Deadline Hollywood. Spanish Lake was released to Video on demand on October 21, 2014, to critical acclaim. The DVD release came a month later on November 15, 2014. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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