Blue Meridian
Following the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois to Venice, Louisiana, Blue Meridian is a captivating journey through the dilapidated and worn out Deep South of the United States of America. A cinematographic encounter with people living among the traces of natural disasters, economic decline and a turbulent history. The Mississippi River flows both through the Deep South and the imagination of the American nation; it draws the border between the East and the West of the country, but also the division between the North and the South. As a blue meridian, it represents the complex relation between place and identity in North America. The film portrays people living in the decay of semi abandoned places, who try to rebuild, preserve and survive, in an attempt to take a stand in their land and its history. Flooding, civil rights movement riots, racism, real estate speculation have caused people to leave these towns and cities. Blue Meridian tells the story of their endeavors to make the American promises true. A critical but emphatic look on America.
At the US première at Camden International Film Festival (2011) Blue Meridian received a special mention by the jury.
Image Fairuz
Director assistent Liesbeth De Ceulaer
Editing Tom Denoyette & Sofie Benoot
Editing supervisor Nico Leunen
Sound Kwinten Van Laethem & Senjan Jansen
Sound design Senjan Jansen
Color correction Olpy
Title design garage64, Maaike Beuten
Technical support Fairuz
Produced by Auguste Orts
Co-produced by Atelier Graphoui & Centre de l’Audiovisuel à Bruxelles
With the support of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel de la Communauté Française de Belgique, et des Télédistributeurs Wallons, Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie, Canvas, LUCA School of Arts & FIDLab