History of the Project
I was 17 years old in 1964, a few years younger than James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. Like them, I wanted to participate in Freedom Summer and do my part registering black people to vote. My father was adamant; he wouldn’t let me go. He grew up in the Mississippi delta, the only Jewish family in his town. He knew discrimination and fear. When those kids went missing and their bodies discovered two months later, I was devastated. How could murderers brag about killing three innocent, unarmed young men and never be held accountable? This American tragedy helped shape my politics and my art. So when Ben Chaney called me 35 years later to discuss making a film about justice in this case, I jumped at the chance. Ben was on a lifelong mission, and I wanted to help. His energy and commitment were palpable.
A few months later, I met the indomitable Carolyn Goodman, and my life was never the same again. She was amazing, still protesting injustice wherever she saw it, never losing hope her son’s case would be prosecuted, still making a difference. For me, she was not only an inspiration, she was a hero. Although the film stayed on the back burner for five more years, my relationship with Carolyn grew closer. I had no idea what started for me in 1964 would culminate in a film 44 years later.
As the 40th anniversary of the murders approached and the spotlight was again on the case, I knew if I was ever going to make a film, it had to be now. By 2004, Carolyn was 87 years old, and only eight of the murderers were still alive. When I read about the Philadelphia Coalition, blacks and whites calling for justice for the first time in 40 years, I thought this was a good way to approach the story.
With only three months before the 40th Anniversary events, and little time to raise money or apply for grants, I pitched the idea to my lifelong friend and award-winning director of photography, Tony Pagano, and suggested we make the film together. I asked him not to make a decision until he did two things; read “We Are Not Afraid,” the most comprehensive book about the murders of James, Andy and Mickey, and meet Carolyn Goodman. A month later Tony was on board. He and I had been friends for 35 years, first as a student in the first college class I ever taught, then as a cherished friend and Director of Photography on several of my films, and finally, as my partner on “Neshoba.”
When Tony and I started shooting in 2004, we had no idea Killen would get indicted 10 months later; that we would have unprecedented access to him for five months; that we would travel to Mississippi more than 20 times, that the film would take almost five years to finish, or that a black man would be running for President when we screened Neshoba for the first time at the Boston Film Festival on September 14, 2008. 44 years ago James, Andy and Mickey, and hundreds of others, died so Barack Obama could be elected President in 2008. Their legacy is our heritage. We must never forget them or the “price of freedom.” We hope our film reminds us how far we’ve come in race relations and how far we still need to go.
“Neshoba” was funded in part through grants from the Andrew Goodman Foundation. The film could not have been made without their unwavering generosity and belief in us.