From 1860 to 1920 hundreds of US counties expelled all of their African American inhabitants. BANISHED visits three of these still all-white towns today. Meanwhile the descendants of those displaced and disinherited seek redress.
BANISHED vividly recovers the too-quickly forgotten history of racial cleansing in America when thousands of African Americans were driven from their homes and communities by violent, racist mobs. The film places these events in the context of present day race relations by following three concrete cases where black and white citizens warily explore if there is common ground for reconciliation over these expulsions. Banished raises this larger question: will the United States ever make meaningful reparations for the human rights abuses suffered, then and now, against its African American citizens? Can reconciliation between the races be possible without them?
Official Selection at the Sundance Film Festival.
"A compelling and necessary chapter to the literature of racism in this country." - The Hollywood Reporter
"Remarkable! This crucially important documentary raises some difficult questions about what can be done in the present to make up for the crimes of the past." - TV Guide
"A wrenching investigation of racism, resentment, and reparations." - Village Voice
