Obamas Production Company Brings Sundance Film ‘Descendant’

Obamas Production Company Brings Hit Sundance Film ‘Descendant’

Descendant, one of the most anticipated films at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival; presented by Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company Higher Ground Productions. The film’s release will be through Netflix as a part of their multi-year production deal.  

Directed by Margaret Brown, the documentary follows the lost narratives of the passengers of Clotilda. A slave ship full of enslaved Africans brought to the United States in bondage in 1860. By giving voice to their descendants in this powerful documentary.

The ship made it to Alabama, in a town called Africa-town 40 years after African slave trade outlawed. Two wealthy men brought the ship to Alabama, wagering that they could capture Africans & bring them back as slaves without anyone discovering their misdeeds. Eventually, they brought approximately 100 captive Black people to the town but burned and sunk the ship, erasing all evidence of their horrific crimes.

Brown expressed her excitement about the film, picked up by Higher Ground and Netflix.

“I have been humbled and honoured to spend four years with the residents of Africa-town as they seek justice and reconciliation for what happened in 1860, and what is still happening today,” she said. “I am excited that through Netflix and Higher Ground’s global reach, audiences around the world will learn this powerful history”.

Executive producers of the highly-anticipated documentary include The Roots’ founders Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter along with Shawn Gee.

A winner of the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award: Creative Vision at Sundance this year. Descendant’s release date on Netflix later this year.