June 1, 2002
8:00 PM - Theater 2
150 Seats

91 minutes
Language: English
Year and Country of Production: 2002. USA
Directors: Whitney Dow, Marco Williams

TWO TOWNS OF JASPER is a feature length documentary about the murder of James Byrd Jr. in Texas. On June 7, 1998, the most vicious racially motivated murder since the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till occurred in Jasper, Texas. James Byrd, an African American, was chained to a pick-up truck and dragged behind it for three miles until his body disintegrated. Three white men from Jasper, with ties to white supremacist groups, were arrested and later convicted for the crime.A collaborative effort between a black and a white filmmaker, and filmed from January through December 1999, TWO TOWNS OF JASPER records the white and black residents of Jasper with two separate crews. An all white crew documented the white community exclusively, and an all black crew filmed the black community.

Many documentaries and dramatic films have been made about the racial divide in America, but none to the producer's knowledge have used segregated crews as a lens on the subject. Filming within the respective races as opposed to across the races will provide the necessary opportunity for audiences to see a world, a community, and a group that most do not have access. We believe that TWO TOWNS OF JASPER will appeal to anyone concerned with the divisions that separate one person from another, whether that difference is based on race, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or religion.