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By Any Measure

By Any Measure

No art unconsidered

Revisiting Comedy Writer and Filmmaker CJ Hunt

August 25, 2022 by Josephine Reed Leave a Comment

The 2015 vote of the  New Orleans City Council to remove four Confederate monuments from public grounds was met with death threats, protests, lawsuits, and rallies.  Writer and comedian CJ Hunt, curious “why a losing army from 1865 still holds so much power in America” covered the hearings and protests. The result of Hunt’s exploration is a documentary called The Neutral Ground–a personal, disturbing, sometimes-funny, and informative exploration of the struggle over the removal of the monuments in New Orleans. But more broadly, the film, an official selection of the both the Tribeca Film Festival and AFI Docs, is an examination of collective memory, the myths of the confederacy, how history was re-written and reaffirmed, and the price paid, especially by Black people, to keep the story of “Lost Cause” alive.  In this 2021 podcast, CJ Hunt talks about the film’s journey from short funny video to a timely and scholarly documentary, his decision to insert himself as a central character in the film, the conversations Black people have been having about these monuments since Frederick Douglass, and how humor can be a great method to get people to examine uncomfortable truths.

For a transcript, click here

Filed Under: Documentary Film, Uncategorized Tagged With: Documentary Film

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About Sunil and Josephine

Sunil Iyengar directs the Office of Research & Analysis at the National Endowment for the Arts. Under his leadership, the office has produced dozens of research reports, hosted periodic research events and webinars, led strategic plan development for the agency, and established research and … [more] about About Sunil and Josephine

By Any Measure

Aesthetics meets analysis in a monthly series of podcasts and blog posts from the National Endowment for the Arts.  Once upon a time, writers and artists were skeptical—if not morbid—about the application of science to questions of natural beauty, aesthetics, and arts and culture. Think of … [more] about By Any Measure

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