SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Jewish Community Arts, with a grant from the Jewish Federation of Northeastern NY and sponsored by Temple Sinai, hosts the next in its social justice series, a panel discussion of Mudbound, a Netflix film by Dee Rees at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 2.
The film follows two World War II veterans and their families, one black, one white, living on a farm in Mississippi. It is an old-fashioned epic drama about race relations in the 1940s Deep South, adapted from a 2008 novel by Hillary Jordan.
It touches on the evil of the Jim Crow era, the oft-ignored post-traumatic stress suffered by servicemembers returning from war, and the stifling sexism of the time. It helps paint a picture of life in the Deep South before the Civil Rights movement in a film that examines class, friendship, racism, and the never-ending struggle against the land.
“This story, which unfortunately as a film, has not had wider distribution, hits even stronger,” said Phyllis Wang, Coordinator of Saratoga Jewish Community Arts, “when one examines what is happening in today’s era. There should be no place for racism, whether it is targeting blacks, browns, Hispanic, Asians, Jews, or others in 2021.”
The panel discussion of Mudbound will be presented on Zoom. It is available on Netflix and potentially YouTube. Registration required by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.saratogajewishculturalfestival.org, www.saratogasinai.org, and Facebook.
