Sacha Jenkins' Short Doc RAILROAD TIES: "We Are All Connected" - A Sundance Special Event Screening - AmNews Curtain Raiser

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Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Sacha Jenkins' Short Doc RAILROAD TIES: "We Are All Connected" - A Sundance Special Event Screening




Ancestry.com and Sacha Jenkins (director and producer (“Fresh Dressed”; “Rapture”), hip-hop author and former journalist at Vibe, Spin, and Rolling Stone) teamed up to make Railroad Ties, gathering a group of six strangers from across the U.S. at the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York to document a story around the legacy of the Underground Railroad (the church was an extremely important throughway for freedom) and show how unexpected connections may be hidden in our family history.

A touching and moving piece, each of the six individuals read their family history, sent by Ancestry, together at Plymouth Church, where it all happened. The film truly reflects that we are all connected as one, even if in the physical we are different color, shape, and form. The very human story of the Underground Railroad unfolds through Ancestry records, each discovery revealing the dynamic impact our history has on identity, family and legacy. The film takes a personal look at how understanding our family’s past can influence not just who we are, but how we see ourselves. As director Sacha Jenkins said in the Q&A post-screening "It's not about being Black, White or Brown, it's about us being one as a human race."

Representing the project at the Sundance exclusive screening at the Sundance TV HQ were director Sacha Jenkins, renowned historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. (Finding Your Roots Host, featured in the film) Jenn Utley (Ancestry researcher, Gayle George (descendant featured in the film) and Melissa Collum (Plymouth Church historian).
                                                            




                                                         


                                                                                                                                             

                                                                               Trailer: Railroad Ties





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