LaLee's Kin: The Legacy Of Cotton

Green Screen Film Series presented
Lalee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton
The Academy Award-nominated Film by Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson
and Albert Maysles, Director of Gimme Shelter & Grey Gardens

About the Film:

LaLee's Kin explores the legacy of generations of African-Americans who toiled in the cotton industry in the Mississippi Delta — a hardscrabble life of poverty and virtual illiteracy. LaLee Wallace, a former cotton picker retired on disability, is a great-grandmother struggling to support and encourage her family, while Reggie Barnes, a crusading superintendent, strives to save the failing West Tallahatchie school system from takeover by the state. LaLee's Kin adheres to the rigorous and sober-minded Maysles tradition of presenting things as they are without editorializing.

About the Filmmaker: Albert Maysles is an award-winning documentarian and a Guggenheim fellow. Along with his brother David, he brought us the cult classics Gimme Shelter (1970) and Grey Gardens (1976). The Maysles have also worked extensively with celebrated artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, whose monumental environmental projects were documented in Academy Award-nominated Christo's Valley Curtain (1974), Running Fence (1978), Islands (1986), Christo in Paris (1990), and Umbrellas(1995). In addition to being nominated for an Academy Award in 2001, LaLee's Kin received the Sundance Film Festival 2001 Cinematography Award for Documentaries and the DuPont Columbia Gold Baton Award in 2004.

Visit our website, hsny.org, and check out our monthly film screenings

Jimmy Mirikitani at the Hort

The Cats of Mirikitani

As part of our Green Screen Film Series, The Hort recently screened The Cats of Mirikitani. The film was presented in conjunction with our current exhibition, Hiroshi Sunairi’s Leur Existence – Tree Project. The subject of the documentary, Jimmy Mirikitani, was escorted by the film's director, Linda Hattendorf on a visit to the HSNY to see the exhibition.



Since 2005, Sunairi has been collecting seeds from hibaku trees (those that survived the atomic bomb) in Hiroshima and has distributed them to nearly 400 participants in 23 countries. The Tree Project exhibition features a selection of these plants, which have been donated by the participants, as well as photographic and written documentation of the process.



Hiroshi, a native of Hiroshima, introduced Jimmy to the Tree Project and guided him around the exhibition. Jimmy enjoyed the exhibition and spoke of his memories of being in Hiroshima during the war. We were given a very special treat when Jimmy sat down and began drawing his now famous cats and presented it to Hiroshi. It now hangs as part of the show.



Visit the film's website: thecatsofmirikitani.com

A Man Named Pearl

The Horticultural Society of New York recently hosted a special screening of the inspiring film,

A Man Named Pearl. This film tells the story of the self-taught topiary artist Pearl Fryar. It is an upbeat film with a message that speaks of respect for self and others, and shows how much one man can achieve with such a respect for humanity.*

"In a sea of pedantic, heavy-handed political documentaries, A Man Named Pearl offers both an effective social statement on race relations and human potential."

Bill Thompson

Charleston Post & Courier

We had a wonderful turn-out, and very positive feed back on what a powerful film this was.

The HSNY will be screening a new film every month, so make sure to contact us or check our website for what new, exciting film is showing.

*A Man Named Pearl, Tentmakers Entertainment.