Two Towns of Jasper

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.

Two film crews, one black and one white, set out to record the repercussions of this modern-day lynching by following the trials of the men charged with the crime and the reactions of the community members.

Two Towns of Jasper integrates footage from an all white crew documenting the white community and an all black crew filming the black community. Many documentaries and dramatic films have been made about the racial divide in America, but none have used segregated crews as a lens on the subject. Filming within the respective races as opposed to across the races provides a unique and rare occasion for audiences to have "insider" access, to witness intimate moments typically not shared with anyone outside a closed community.

See http://www.workingfilms.org for more information.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• two
• towns
• of
• jasper
• working
• films
• documentary
• marco
• williams
• whitney
• dow

[workingfilmsdocs]

Using segregated crew, with an all white film crew filming the white community, and an all black crew filming the black community, Two Towns of Jasper provides unique and rare access to witness private moments typically not shared with anyone outside a closed community. The film resonates beyond the small town where it was shot, shining a light on race relations and divisions across America today.

[MattWadeHere09]

Jaspers not divided??? I watched the documentary on this event. How come the kids are out of school on RODEO day but there in school on Martin Luther King Jr. day??? Just doesn't ad up to me.

[gotmypearls]

I'm assuming his thought was that he didn't want it to be a racially motivated crime.

[imaStonesFan]

@YTPROFESSOR Really as i have said before:Why wasn't Channon and Christians' murder get all the media attention? I found about them only on the internet.

The Media sure as hell must not have reported it much.

[imaStonesFan]

@MattWadeHere09 WTF??? Where on earth did u hear such a lie?

[lacymargaret33]

wow.. I live in Jasper, Texas and go to school here. Senior in high school... we DO get out on MLK Day and there ARE blacks in our schools. We are not a bunch of redneck racist hicks y'all wish we were. Get over yourselves.

[YTPROFESSOR]

I could give a fuck about james byrd...what about Channon Christian and Chris Newsom?

[tcmax4life]

This shit rite here is one of  reason I HATE white people!

[eastcoastbrotha]

@SSSTopgun1 ;u real ignorent i can see,what u mean to say is yall racist don't want to celebrate the holiday.

[SSSTopgun1]

@MattWadeHere09 They don't get out of school on MLK day because theres no blacks going to jasper ISD.

[cpxoxo279]

@foolclip

Your comment is very ignorant and way to BLAME THE VICTIM. Those who say the black people are racially targeting, terrorizing, and mutilating white people based on race (you know, what these three animals did) in the inner city are WRONG. Just like you demanding that black people or, any other group at that who have been victimized by intolerance and ignorance, are WRONG.

[shedfz2]

did he say hoping it was a black man hat had killed???wtf ok

[beastshawnee]

DID THEY EVER SOLVE THIS?