Like 2021’s Summer of Soul, Descendant is an act of documentary journalism aimed at keeping African-American history alive. Both are crucial for a time when there are efforts to literally whitewash such stories. Whereas Summer of Soul was largely a celebration, Descendant is more of a reckoning, as it chronicles the discovery of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to carry enslaved Africans to the United States (specifically, coastal Alabama). Interviews with descendants of those who survived the journey offer harrowing testimonies that have been passed down orally through generations. Director Margaret Brown balances these with pastoral landscape shots of the area, relieving some of the horror. At its best, the documentary traces the tentacles of the Clotilda to the present day, revealing that the family behind the illegal action circa 1860 still owns much of the property around Africatown (where many of the descendants still live), even leasing vast tracts of land to factories that have been accused of polluting the community. Whenever someone wants to downplay historical atrocities, Descendant suggests, it’s because they’re also trying to cover up injustice in the present day.
(12/17/2022)
