POV: After Sherman

By Jennifer Robinson / Web Producer

Published June 15, 2023 at 10:22 AM PDT

This story was published more than 1 year ago.

A serene forest setting, where a man stands amidst the lush greenery. He is dressed in a white shirt that contrasts against the verdant foliage and has his back turned to the viewer. The forest is replete with towering trees and dense undergrowth.

Premieres Monday, June 26, 2023 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV / PBS App

POV opens its 36th season with "After Sherman," a gripping film about inheritance, landscape identity and tensions within Black Belt communities that define America’s collective history. The film marks director Jon-Sesrie Goff's ("Out in the Night") feature debut, and is produced by Goff, blair dorosh-walther, and Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich. In After Sherman Goff returns to the coastal South Carolina land that his family purchased after emancipation. His desire to explore his Gullah Geechee roots leads to a poetic investigation of Black inheritance, trauma, and generational wisdom.

After Sherman by Jon Sesrie-Goff. Official Trailer.

In "After Sherman," Goff visits his ancestral hometown Georgetown, South Carolina, a community deeply rooted in Gullah Geechee customs to investigate the cultural and spiritual rituals that bind people together in that region. Through talks with family, friends, and neighbors, and watching archival home videos, Goff comprises intimate accounts of the lives of the Black community to showcase the history of the African people on the land.

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Rows of men in dark suits are seated in church pews, with their backs facing the camera.

The film also delves into his relationship with his father, Rev. Dr. Norvel Goff, Sr. to learn about his personal connection to land that has been in his family for 150 years, where they were once enslaved. Dr. Goff, a survivor of the tragic shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. on June 17, 2015, served as Mother Emanuel’s interim pastor following the killing of the church’s pastor, Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney.

A man is framed through a doorway, sitting in a chair and gazing out of a window with his back facing the viewer. The room is sparsely furnished, with white walls and debris scattered on the floor. The view outside is partially obscured by his presence but glimpses of trees and a house can be seen through the window.

"After Sherman" is ultimately a film about being present in a corner of the American South that is often forgotten except in moments of violence. The film speaks to intergenerational questions between the post-civil rights and civil rights generations. Rather than depicting Black subjects as at the whim of violent forces, Goff documents the imparting of wisdom between generations of African Americans on how to survive not just materially, but spiritually.

A medium shot of a pair of hands tying a net with a red, black, and white plaid sleeve visible. In the background, an out-of-focus trellis and trees are visible, with bright and sunny lighting.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to share this film with public television audiences,” said Jon-Sesrie Goff. “As development and tourism seek to reimagine the landscape of the coastal south, it’s increasingly important to highlight the efforts many have undertaken in the preservation of Gullah Geechee culture and the protection of black owned land, many of the properties purchased by the formerly enslaved. Working with my collaborators, we handcrafted something that we hope honors the spirit of community and reflects the richness of the region. It was important for us to make visible a living history, where all the complexities of the past and present inform our understanding of home.”

An aerial view capturing water cutting through a landscape of tall green grass.

Film Awards

“After Sherman” won 2022 Best Documentary Feature awards at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Tacoma Film Festival, and Fists Up! Film Festival. The film was nominated for a 2023 Cinema Eye Honors, and was a recipient of the 2022 Gordon Parks Award for Black Excellence at the Tallgrass Film Festival. "After Sherman" was an official selection of the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, True/False Film Festival and Camden International Film Festival.

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A long shot of a sandy shore with people scattered along it, and in the far distance, the remains of Fort Sumter can be seen. A small boat is anchored in the water with a crane overhead. The sky is overcast with clouds, and a rocky outcropping juts into the water, creating a dramatic contrast between the land and sea.

Watch On Your Schedule:

The film will be available to stream free until July 26, 2023 at pbs.org, and the PBS App. In addition to standard closed captioning for the film, POV, in partnership with audio description service DiCapta, provides real time audio interpretations for audiences with sensory disabilities.

A closeup of an open palm holding small brown seeds with white speckles. In the out-of-focus background, there is a brown wooden chair.

Credits:

Produced in association with ITVS, Black Public Media, and Hedera Pictures LLC. Jon-Sesrie Goff is the director, screenwriter and cinematographer. The producers are blair dorosh-walther, Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich and Goff. The executive producers are Erika Dilday, Chris White and Justine Nagan for American Documentary, POV, Leslie Fields-Cruz and Sally Jo Fifer. The editor is Blair Seab McClendons and the composer is Tamar-Kali.

“'After Sherman,' Jon-Sesrie Goff’s personal story about belonging, is an arresting film to open POV’s 36th season,” said Erika Dilday, Executive Director, American Documentary and Executive Producer, POV and America ReFramed. “Every year American Documentary renews its commitment to provide seasoned and emerging filmmakers the opportunity to share their stories via public media’s national platform. In return, we ask our filmmakers to be fearless; to go to difficult places, and ask difficult questions to deliver to audiences the truths that inform us, enlighten us, and hopefully lead us toward real change.”