Freedom's Path

As a member of The McIntosh County Shouters and being featured in this film. I have to firstly thank you for the opportunity to be apart of such an amazing film. The fact that you use managed to use us for film as well as using older recordings of the founding members for the group for the sound track paid homage to the power and beauty of the ring shout and it's role in the fabric of the American Story. For the first time in film history utilizing the authentic ring shout in the correct context as a way of weaving a piece of unknown Black Musical and Cultural History into a film to talk about the struggles of Freed Black's during the time of the Civil War was so beautifully done. The film was deeply emotional and allowing viewers to get a view not only into life during the Civil War, but also giving an honest and truthful account of what the view of the Civil War was for Whites of the Union as well as Freed Black's. This film was poetic.

Although the historical basis of this film is America's Civil War, the theme is timeless. The story is told from the perspective of a young, naive soldier consigned to fight in the Confederate army. From the opening scene, it is clear that he does not understand the mission he is embarking upon. As he takes each step along his journey, he learns what is at stake on Freedom's Path, and gains the courage to do what he can to stand for what he knows is right.

This was such an amazing, powerful, and extremely emotional film! The message in Freedom's Path is incredibly deep. The actors and actresses were fantastic! Brett Smith did a wonderful job directing. The music was also very beautiful. Overall, I believe Freedom's Path will go down in history and has every bit of potential to win an Oscar.

If you trimmed 20 minutes or so to remove some of the lingering "half-speed" sequences this could've been something more hard hitting. Instead FP focused more on presenting sequences to invoke a contemplative nature instead of giving us the story with more teeth. The film truly falters when it decides to bare them but becomes self-defeating due to writing choices made early on. Only to slump back on familiarity. The performances range from uneven to solid. I feel like FP didn't want to lean either which way in terms of storytelling and the result are actors doing their best to fall somewhere on both sides of the line. I knew nothing about this movie before I watched it and I'll likely not remember it after. The symptom of a movie that couldn't decide if it wanted to tell me something or show me something memorable.

This movie takes you through so many different emotions in such a beautiful way. The acting, the cinematography, the music... they are amazing. The director does a masterful job of telling a story and bringing you in to it. Not to watch it but to be a part of it. This isn't just a filmed movie, it is like fine crafted art work.