Film phase:Completed
SYNOPSIS
Marquetta Dicken’s hometown, Princeville, sits atop wet, swampy land along the Tar River in North Carolina. Disregarded by white people, the land was left available after the Civil War and settled by newly freed enslaved Africans, who called it “Freedom Hill” and established a self-sufficient, all Black town. This short documentary follows Marquetta Dickens as she tries to help save her hometown from flooding, and explores the environmental racism that is washing away the historic town of 2,000 people.
Freedom Hill is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR & PRODUCER
Born and raised in the South, Resita Cox’s (she/her) films center Southern, Black communities and explore environmental justice, racial justice, and more. With a degree in journalism from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Resita started her career as a storyteller in TV news as a reporter in North Carolina and later in Chicago. She holds an MFA from Northwestern University in Documentary Film and is a 2021 North Star fellow with Points North Institute. Resita was recently named a 2022 Esteemed Artist by the City of Chicago and is one of Elevate’s 2022 Climate Changemakers.