SFA Documentary Films
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Each year, the SFA produces several films in concert with the University of Mississippi's Center for Documentary Projects. Annually, we commission a documentary that pays tribute to the Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame honoree, we create a movie that is screened at the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, and, with support from Whole Foods Markets, we showcase a Southern farmer or artisan. We produce a range of short films, about everything from goat cheese to fried pies, from buttermilk to barbecue.
Our new Potlikker Film Festivals allow us to take these films on the road. Look for screenings (and potlikker shots) in your area soon.
If you’re unable to meet us on the road, watch these films online.
Our oeuvre of films to date includes:
• An SFA Film Primer Watch this film
by Joe York. Watch this to find out what our film initiative is all about.• Smokes & Ears Watch this film
by Joe York. See the story of the Big Apple Inn in Jackson, Mississippi. Known as "Big John's" by its faithful customers, the Big Apple Inn's defining duo of pig ear sandwiches and hot smoked sausage sandwiches (known as "smokes") has kept folks coming back again and again for over 70 years, and counting. The film is made in recognition of 2009 Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame Award Winner Geno Lee.• CUD Watch this film
by Joe York. Meet Will Harris of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia, a cattle rancher with deep roots in the Deep South. He has rejected the corn-fed, feedlot cattle model in favor of raising grass-fed cattle. Will is no arriviste. The Harris family has raised cattle on the same Early County, Georgia farm for 5 generations.• Capitol Q Watch this film
by Joe York. Travel to North Carolina's Skylight Inn, once declared the capital of 'cue by National Geographic. A capital dome atop the building will confirm you're at the right location. The Jones family cooks whole hog barbecue in open pits over oak, and then chops it--skin and all--on a wood chopping block.• The W.H.O. Farm Watch this film
by Joe York. Follow this upside down bus across the country as they lobby the new president to plant an organic farm on the White House lawn.• Buttermilk: It Can Help Watch this film
by Joe York. See the story of 2008 Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame winner Cruze Family Dairy, located outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. Hear proprietor Earl Cruze extol the virtues of buttermilk. It might not solve all the world’s problems, but it can help!• Hot-Dogopolis Watch this film
An SFA Greenhouse film by Eric Feldman by and Leyla Modirzadeh. Learn the story of the Greek community in Birmingham, Alabama, and see a part of their restaurant legacy in the lunch stands that make Birmingham a great Southern city for a hot dog.• Eat or We’ll Both Starve Watch this film
by Joe York. The story of Mississippi’s Taylor Grocery, and proprietors Lynn and Debbie Hewlett. It’s hailed as the South’s best catfish joint and it has a brown bag policy. Diners don’t mind waiting on the front porch for a table, sometimes for hours.• Jones Valley Urban Farm Watch this film
by Matthew Graves. A profile of downtown Birmingham’s not-for-profit demonstration education garden. Together with volunteers, Jones Valley Urban Farm turns vacant urban property into bountiful gardens and uses proceeds from produce and flower sales to fund educational programs.• Mutton: The Movie Watch this film
by Joe York and Matthew Graves. Go on a journey to the northwestern corner of Kentucky (Owensboro, to be exact), where descendants of the Welsh who settled the banks of the Ohio River don’t count sheep; they barbecue them.• The Rise of Southern Cheese Watch this film
by Joe York and Matthew Graves. A look at artisanal cheese producers in the South. It chronicles three makers of fine Southern cheeses: Belle Chevre in Alabama, Sweet Grass Dairy in Georgia, and Bonnie Blue Farm in Tennessee.• Elizabeth Scott, 2007 Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame (and Retrospective) Watch this film
by the Center for Documentary Projects. A retrospective of Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame honorees, on the tenth anniversary of the SFA, and a portrait of Elizabeth Scott, a tamale maker in Greenville, Mississippi. Scott and her husband learned to make tamales after developing a taste for them in Texas, and today six of her nine children—as well as some grandchildren—are carrying on the tradition at their Martin Luther King Boulevard tamale stand.• Chicken Stew Watch this film
by Joe York and Matthew Graves. In the North Alabama summertime, especially around the cities of Florence, Tuscumbia, and Muscle Shoals, people eat chicken stew. Watch these Alabama Catholics stoke fires beneath boiling pots, while most folks are just trying to stay cool.• Something Better Than Barbecue Watch this film
by Joe York. A look at Chuck Ferrell of Chuck’s Bar-B-Q in Opelika, Alabama. Ferrell is a born again Christian who uses his heavenly barbecue as a tool for conversion. He keeps a stock of personalized religious tracts by the register, but wields a barbecue pitchfork for a living.• Above the Line: Saving Willie Mae’s Scotch House Watch this film
by Joe York and the Center for Documentary Projects. A documentary that chronicles the SFA’s rebuilding of the Scotch House, a New Orleans restaurant operated by 92-year-old fried chicken maven Willie Mae Seaton.• & Fried Pies Watch this film
by Joe York. Mr. Elzy "E.W." Mayo of Mayo's Mahalia Jackson Chicken & Fried Pies, in Nashville, makes what he calls "the world's best pies." He didn't have too much to say about the chicken, so we focused on the other side of the ampersand.• Hot Chicken Watch this film
by Joe York. Meet Andre Prince Jeffries, and learn all about the addictive hot chicken craze in North Nashville. It’s hot, and it’s fried.• Working the Miles Watch this film
by Joe York. A tribute to the men and women of 13 Mile Oyster Company, honoring Tommy Ward who, like his father before him, has served as a guardian of the Apalachicola Bay.• Dial S for Sausage Watch this film
by Joe York. A short profile of Southside Market in Elgin, Texas, produced for the annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, sponsored by the Union Square Hospitality Group.• BBGBBQ Watch this film
by Joe York. A short profile of Big Bob Gibson's Barbecue in Decatur, Alabama, produced for the annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, sponsored by Union Square Hospitality Group.• Whole Hog Watch this film
by Joe York, an examination of barbecue culture in west-central Tennessee. At the core of the story is whole hog stalwart Ricky Parker, pitmaster at B.E. Scott’s Bar-B-Que in Lexington, Tennessee.• Marsaw Watch this film
by Joe York. The tale of Martin Sawyer, bartender at the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel in New Orleans. Mr. Sawyer, a veteran of more than six decades of tending bar, witnessed the flood of 1927 and survived Hurricane Katrina.• The Real Baptizing Watch this film
by Joe York and Preston Lauterbach. An account of Willie King and his music at Bettie’s Place, a now-defunct blues club near Aliceville, Alabama.• Welcome Table
by Joe York. An account of Martha Hawkins of Montgomery, Alabama, whose restaurant serves as a modern day incarnation of the Civil Rights Movement ideal of the beloved community.• On Flavor Watch this film
by Joe York. A profile of Ed Scott, the first African American catfish farmer in the Mississippi Delta.• Saving Seeds Watch this film
by Joe York and Matt Bruder. A portrait of Bill Best, an heirloom bean and tomato farmer of Berea, Kentucky. Finalist for the Golden Snail Award from Slow Food.