barefoot WORKSHOPS

Creating Documentary Filmmakers right here in river city Clarksdale

PHOTOS AND VIDEOS INCLUDED

Did you know that Barefoot Workshops has brought 100 filmmakers and photographers from 18 countries to Clarksdale, Mississippi to produce 40 documentaries? Did you know their students have interviewed 130 people and filmed over 500 hours of footage throughout the Delta? Look closer at how this unique not-for-profit organization is archiving and telling the story of our beloved Mississippi Delta and it’s people.

Chandler Griffin during a BAREFOOT WORKSHOP SHOWING in the Juke Joint Chapel at the Shack Up Inn. Photo by The Delta Bohemian

Barefoot Workshops is a New York City-based, nonprofit organization founded in 2004 by Director Chandler Griffin, a Jackson, MS native. Chandler has over ten years of experience in documentary filmmaking, education and instruction. Read more about Chander and his outstanding Instructors including Peabody Award winner Program Director Alison Fast and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer David C. Turnley.

Grifin has been bringing his Barefoot Workshops to Clarksdale for eight years now. Because our area if rife with characters and material for subject matter, our Mississippi Delta has become a favorite destination spot for filmmakers all over the world.

In addition to the Mississippi Delta, Barefoot Workshops hosts in Marfa, Texas and Cape Town, South Africa. All of their workshops are open to beginners through advanced levels of training.

When Chandler founded Barefoot Workshops he wanted to find a meaningful way to use his gifts to help others find theirs. The Barefoot mission is “to create responsible filmmakers who care about the world around them and who make it a point to give back to their communities.”

If you are not a filmmaker or even a wanna be, you can still enjoy the fruits of the participant’s long, hard labors by attending the Free Viewing of their final pieces. This is an exciting event for the directors of the projects, the subjects of the films (and their family) and for Chandler and his talented staff to witness. Their invitation to the public to attend the premiere of these fine films is a unique opportunity for locals to experience something completely new and fresh. Attendees always enjoy the short films and are usually surprised to see people they know in at least one or two of the final pieces. LIVE MUSIC kicks off the special night so make your plans to attend on September 24th at the Shack Up Inn.

The last two workshop presentations The Delta Bohemian attended in the Juke Joint Chapel out at the Shack Up Inn included documentaries featuring Scotty Meredith, The Chamoun’s of Rest Haven Restaurant, Teach For America Musician Justin Zamm, Randall Andrews, Bubba O’Keefe, John Magnusson, and Bobby Reed among others. Watch the following Barefoot Workshops documentary entitled River Don’t Come Callin’, filmed in February 2011 by Yuri Chicovsky, Shermon Hogue and Garrison York. It features the adventures of Bobby Reed, lord of the levee and protector of the Delta.

To learn more about Barefoot Workshops, visit their website at www.barefootworkshops.org. If you are interested in attending a workshop, please contact Chandler Griffin at [email protected]! The Delta Bohemian will begin posting a Barefoot Workshop Documentary each week within our Watcha Gonna Do post so look for it and make time to watch it. You’ll be glad you did.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUR WATCHA GONNA DO COLUMN FOR AN INVITATION TO THE UPCOMING DOCUMENTARY PRESENTATIONS IN SEPTEMBER AT THE SHACK UP INN. FREE TO THE PUBLIC.