FANNIE LOU HAMER’S AMERICA, winner of Best TV Feature Documentary or miniseries at the IDA Awards, is a portrait of Mississippi sharecropper-turned-human-rights-activist, Fannie Lou Hamer, one of the Civil Rights Movement’s greatest leaders.

US | 2022 | 60 minutes | Color | DVD | English | Order No. W211289 |

SYNOPSIS

Fannie Lou Hamer was a leader in the civil rights movement, founder of the Freedom Democratic Party in Mississippi, and the organizer of Freedom Summer, a volunteer-based campaign launched in the summer of 1964 in order to register as many Black voters in Mississippi as possible.

FANNIE LOU HAMER’S AMERICA, a documentary produced by her grand-niece Monica Land, and winner of Best TV Feature Documentary or miniseries at the IDA Awards, is a portrait of a civil rights activist and the injustices in America that made her work essential. Through public speeches, personal interviews, and powerful songs of the fearless Mississippi sharecropper-turned-human-rights-activist, Fannie Lou Hamer’s America explores and celebrates the lesser-known life of one of the Civil Rights Movement’s greatest leaders.

PRESS

“A powerful film, one that illustrates the challenges and sacrifices so many faced in fighting for the right to vote."

Sylvia Bugg Chief Programming Executive & General Manager, PBS

“There are few Mississippians who have played a more prominent role at a pivotal point in American history than Fannie Lou Hamer. Her story has been an inspiration to so many people, past and present, working for social justice and human dignity, not only in America but around the world.”

Lloyd Gray Executive Director, Hardin Foundation

“This film makes the point that this struggle really has been going on forever."

Alan Bowling Associate Professor, The University of Texas at Arlington

“Monica Land has provided us with the rare opportunity to peek inside the life of one of America’s most important moral leaders.”

Erika Dilday, Executive Director, American Documentary

“Fannie Lou Hamer’s America will steep viewers in Black history while providing greater context for and insight into some of today’s biggest challenges.” –

Chris Hastings Executive Producer & Managing Editor, WORLD Channel

“A perfect Black History Month watch.”

Jared Alexander The Grio

“A humanizing treatment.”

James Bennett II GBH

“An expressive look at the life of Fannie Lou Hamer."

BET

“Listening to it, viewers can hear Hamer's sense of urgency, which still resonates today."

Rebekah Barber Facing South

“The film is offering to a new generation of audiences called upon to take up the mantle of preserving American democracy.”

Baltimore Times

SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS

  • WINNER, Best TV Feature Documentary or miniseries, IDA Awards

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Joy Davenport

Joy Elaine Davenport is a director, editor, and composer currently based in Chicago, Illinois. She has worked as a freelancer on every aspect of film production for over a decade. Her mission as a documentary filmmaker is to elevate and empower underrepresented voices. FANNIE LOU HAMER’S AMERICA is her directorial debut. (3/22)

Monica Land

Monica Land is an award-winning journalist and has been writing for local and national media outlets for more than twenty-five years. She specializes in investigative and statistical reporting, feature and enterprise articles, general news writing and historical research. As the niece of civil rights icon, Fannie Lou Hamer, Land has written numerous feature articles about Hamer, as well as an essay for the book, PIECES FROM THE PAST: VOICES OF HEROIC WOMEN IN CIVIL RIGHTS (2011) published by Joan H. Sadoff and Tasora Books. Land has also produced historical segments for Entertainment Tonight and A&E's Biography. (3/22)

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