"A stunningly succinct portrayal of the primal American crime [...] This documentary is a disciplined, intelligent work that wastes no time and teaches well hard features of the slave trade. It's careful in hard territories. So much good truth has been brought to the screen."
— Kathryn Lofton, Professor of Religious Studies and American Studies, Professor of History and Divinity, Dean of Humanities, Yale University
Rodney Williams and Susanna Grannis have never met and share little in common, but there's one significant factor that unites them: a common ancestor in notorious slave trader John Armfield. Bloodlines of the Slave Trade finds both film participants reckoning with their heritage, and follows Rodney as he takes a road trip along the Natchez Trace, where his other ancestors were once forced to walk by Armfield.
Through these family narratives and this historical tour, the filmilluminates how histories develop, become calcified, and perpetuate through generations.Bloodlines of the Slave Tradeposits a more honest way to discuss and understand the story of America, and the ways its history continues to reverberate among its citizens.