Episode 81: Suzannah Herbert - Deconstructing Dixie

Suzannah Herbert is a documentary filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY.

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(00:00) Born in NYC, raised in Memphis

(02:40) Childhood visits, obsession with New York history

(05:20) NYU Tisch arrival and film school focus

(08:10) Staying in NYC: career, Brooklyn, parenthood shift

(11:05) Memphis roots: PBS, Oprah, early documentaries

(14:30) Mr. Thames and “Facing History” shaping worldview

(18:05) Why documentary: history, art, social analysis combined

(21:55) Cinema’s power: “Gone with the Wind” vs Natchez

(25:10) Misrepresentations: enslaved people, Confederacy glorified

(28:45) Why whitewashing persists: identity, power, denial

(32:20) Southern upbringing: artists vs country club culture

(36:05) Plantation wedding sparks the film’s central question

(39:40) Finding Natchez: road trip, preservation, Union occupation

(43:15) Beauty and horror tension; returning to confront it

(46:50) Meeting Rev, building a web of Natchez voices

(51:05) How docs get made: phases, research, building vision

(54:10) Bootstrapping shoots, sizzles, ITVS and key supporters

(57:25) Bigger truths, Lost Cause myth, future Southern stories