Poet Lamar Wilson remembers reading Anatomy of a Lynching as a young man and immediately asking his grandmother if she knew Claude Neal. The book recounts the heinous 1934 murder and mutilation of Neal, a 23-year-old African American, at the hands of a mob of white men. It was seldom mentioned locally, and Wilson was shocked to learn that this happened in his own hometown of Marianna, Florida. Years later, on the 70th anniversary of the lynching, Wilson publicly confronts and calls attention to this horrific history by running the 13-mile route over which the crime was committed. Directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson carefully and assuredly follow as Wilson reprises his run for a third time amidst some folks who urge him not to in fear that he will come to harm. In the wake of naysayers, we meet three locals squarely in Wilson’s corner who do what they can to support his efforts and help bring rightful awareness to this brutal history.  WFM

Filmmaker Q&A following screening