Fisherman’s Friend; AFFRM Nets Slamdance Preemed Vanishing Pearls

The folks at AFFRM are testing the docu-waters picking up the worldwide rights to Vanishing Pearls. Plans are to have Nailah Jefferson’s debut/Slamdance preemed break-out next month theatrically on April 18 NY & LA.

Gist: This documents the ongoing, environmental ‘David and Goliath’ struggle between BP (Beyond Petroleum) and the residents of the last surviving African-American fishing community in the Louisiana Gulf. Told from the point of view of the film’s ‘David’, businessman Byron Encalade, we learn how a once prolific and unique oyster fishing community has nearly vanished. The current story begins with ‘Goliath’, BP, and the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster – which destroyed the livelihood of many Louisianans. Encalade and a small tribe of diverse Louisianans fight through legal channels and any other way they can to find justice.

Worth Noting: Nailah Jefferson previously worked for Lee Daniels Ent. (circa Tennessee, Precious).

Do We Care? With Vanishing Pearls and Margaret Brown’s The Great Invisible, 2014 might be a banner year for docu-explorations of the devastating effects of the BP spill. Sign us up for both.