Northampton's own filmmaker Ira McKinley and Bhawin Suchak return to the area for a special premiere screening of their newest film Outta the Muck. McKinley began his journey as a filmmaker working with Northampton Open Media, then named Northampton Community Television, and went on to co-direct The Throwaways with Bhawin in 2014.

Outta The Muck premiered at the 2022 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, and is an official selection at Miami Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Ashland Independent Film Festival and the River Run International Film Festival.

Recently the film was picked up by the national PBS Documentary anthology series Independent Lens. Outta The Muck has also been supported by ITVS, Sundance Documentary Fund, Just Films Ford Foundation, Black Public Media and the Southern Documentary Fund.

We invite you to attend this very special and exclusive screening with Ira McKinley and Bhawin Suchak, who will be in attendance for a Q&A following the screening. Ticket proceeds and donations will be used to help fund the travel costs of the filmmaking team in touring the film to festivals around the United States.

SYNOPSIS:

Family, football and history come to life in an intimate portrait of the Dean family, longtime residents of the historic town of Pahokee, Florida. As we take a journey back home, with filmmaker Ira McKinley, to the land of sugarcane, he reconnects with his niece Bridget and nephew Alvin and explores their shared family history that spans seven generations. Told through stories that transcend space and time, Outta The Muck presents an intimate portrait of a community that resists despair with love, remaining fiercely self-determined, while forging its own unique narrative of Black achievement.