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Moving Midway
A film by Godfrey Cheshire 98 minutes, documentary, color, English, 2008
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| Synopsis
The past is not dead. It's not even past. - William Faulkner Humorous, poignant, probing and suspenseful, Moving Midway follows a real-life family commotion that swirls around one of Americas most contested and controversial icons: the Southern plantation. New York film critic-turned-filmmaker Godfrey Cheshire returns home to North Carolina and finds that his cousin Charlie Silver proposes to uproot and relocate the family ancestral home Midway Plantation to escape urban sprawl. Cheshire also comes across history professor Robert Hinton, who reveals that his grandfather was born a slave at Midway. As Cheshire and Hinton explore the plantation mythology embodied in our cultural history from Uncle Toms Cabin to Gone with the Wind to Roots Charlie meanwhile follows through on the Herculean feat of hoisting Midway several miles across a forbidding landscape. But this events drama leads to an even more startling surprise: the discovery of 100 African- American cousins that Cheshire and Silver never suspected, potent proof of Americas long buried but increasingly important status as a mixed-race society. Reviews "Extraordinarily rich! Takes up the agonies and ironies of Southern history with remarkable empathy, wit and learning." - A.O. Scott, The New York Times (Critic's Pick) "Brilliantly fuses criticism and storytelling... Thrilling!" - David Edelstein, New York Magazine "Enthralling! A roaring good time." - Ella Taylor, LA Weekly "Tenderhearted, tough-minded, witty and wise, Midway is moving indeed." "A-! Thoughtful, graceful, compassionate." - Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly "An illuminating look at the history of the plantation and the endless secrets of the South's gothic past." -Oprah's O at Home Magazine "A-! Cheshire demonstrates how popular mythology works its way into our private imaginations." - Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor "A fascinating story
boasts some quirky comic moments, but it's most notable for furthering the all-too-serious discussion of the South's racial legacy." - Mark Jenkins, NPR Runner-up Best Documentary of 2008- New York Magazine Recommended Reading The Tar Heel State: A History of North Carolina A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina Links See details about this film's theatrical run. Disc Features ● Bonus scenes
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by Milton Ready
by Catherine Bishir and Michael Southern
