Staff
When 22 year old Lynn Ball took a few days off work from the Canadian Press in 1965, he drove south to Selma, Alabama and into journalistic history. Determined to try his hand at news photography, Ball ended up documenting a key chapter in the on going struggle for racial equality.
Now fifty years later, Balls’ pictorial essay will be on display in conjunction with the feature film SELMA on opening night of the Meaford International Film Festival (Sept.3-6) at Meaford Hall.
“This is a spectacular one-two punch for the audience,” says MIFF Artistic Director Christopher Thomas. “The film Selma sheds new light on a chapter in a story that still dominates our headlines. Lynn Balls’ photographs offer a chilling portrait of the enduring social pressures that even changed literary racial hero Atticus Finch into a racist.”
What makes Balls’ photos unique is the subjects he chose and the fact that most have never been seen before. They just sat in a drawer for fifty years! While news crews were focused on the bloody violence unleashed on Dr. Martin Luther Kings’ followers by Selma Sheriff Jim Clark, Lynn Ball photographed the counter demonstrations by whites in Selma and Montgomery. Why were they never shown? Many of these photos were so racially charged they were either censored by Sheriff Clark or, more shockingly, by Canadian news organizations. There are also archival moments like the face to face stand off between a state trooper and Willie Ricks who would later give up on non violence and originate the raised fist salute and the phrase “black power”.
It’s worth noting that the march in Selma grew out of protests against the fatal shooting of a black man by an Alabama State trooper. “With the stuff that’s going on, some of these photos could have just as well been taken yesterday” said Blaine Courtney, Chair the Owen Sound Emancipation Festival and the man responsible for helping MIFF obtain this special exhibit. The Emancipation Festival is currently displaying the photos at the Grey Roots Museum, Ron Hopper Real Estate is the sponsor. “We’re very grateful to Blaine for helping us provide this valuable experience to our audience, including an interview they recorded with Lynn Ball” said Rod MacAlpine, Chair of the Meaford Hall and Culture Foundation. “As an added benefit, (MacAlpine adds) we’re especially pleased that the Emancipation Festival and the Sheffield Park Black History Museum have accepted our invitation to set up an exhibit at MIFF showing some of their efforts to preserve and explore the black experience in our area”
Trip Advisor singled out MIFF for presenting “movies that make you think”, this year is no exception. Following SELMA, RED ARMY (Sept 4), explores the Russian soul behind the seemingly faceless Soviet Hockey teams as super star “Slava” Fetisov goes from national hero to despised defector. A BRILLIANT YOUNG MIND (Sept 5) is an intense, sometimes humorous portrait of an autistic British teenager played by Asa Butterfield, (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Hugo, Enders) who learns that life is about more than connecting prime numbers.
Closing MIFF (Sept 6) is a special preview screening of what Eye For Film called, “A thrilling snapshot of social change in Palestine”. SPEED SISTERS follows five dynamic Palestinian women as they defy obstacles to race cars in a man’s world despite politics, conservative family pressures and the omnipresent military occupation. As one of them says “what are we supposed to do, stop living?”
For tickets call the Meaford Hall Box Office at 1.877.538.0463 or check the MIFF web site meafordfilmfest.ca
