Two Towns of Jasper

2002 Directed by Whitney Dow, Marco Williams

Using two separate filmmaking teams (an all-white crew filming white residents and an all-black camera crew filming black residents), TWO TOWNS OF JASPER captures very different racial views by townsfolk in Jasper, Texas, the location for a racially motivated murder of an African American man in 1998.

Directors

Whitney Dow Marco Williams

Language

English

documentary

90 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Jason Bailey ★★★★½

If you found yourself wondering, during Kirsten Johnson’s excellent 'Cameraperson,' where the material from the James Byrd trial came from, the answer is this 2003 documentary from directors Whitney Down and Marco Williams (newly streaming via PBS’s POV site). It concerns the June 1998 dragging death of Mr. Byrd, an African-American resident of the small town of Jasper, Texas, for which three white men were put on trial, individually, the following year. The filmmakers ingeniously split up: a black crew filmed the city’s black residents, and a white crew filmed its whites. This division of labor allows its subjects talk in in something like private, revealing the complexities of their beliefs, and how deeply they’re ingrained – from the “Bubbas…

Recent reviews

Review by rrebrab ★★★

I found this fascinating because it gave you the perspective of racist white people and their justifications for horrific actions that took place. Tragic event, sad we haven't progressed much as a society since 1998.
Review by Mootart ★★★★

I was sick to my stomach for the first 5 minutes of this film. I had to start and stop a few times because it was overwhelming me emotionally. But once it moves past descriptions of the painfully inhumane murder and goes more into the trials, it was weird to notice so much of the same rhetoric floating around about 20 years later. I think a big problem in this country is not wanting to look, back at it's violent racial past and see how it echoes through to today. If you don't reckon with history, it has the opportunity to repeat itself.
Review by Sarah deV ★★★

Gripping and timeless.
Review by Kayla Myers ★★★★

If you’re wondering where the shots from the trial for the murder of James Bryd came from in Cameraperaon, it is this film. It was really emotional to watch so all I can really suggest now is just to watch it.
Review by TriSarahTops ★★★

Texas sucks.
Review by Jason Bailey ★★★★½

If you found yourself wondering, during Kirsten Johnson’s excellent 'Cameraperson,' where the material from the James Byrd trial came from, the answer is this 2003 documentary from directors Whitney Down and Marco Williams (newly streaming via PBS’s POV site). It concerns the June 1998 dragging death of Mr. Byrd, an African-American resident of the small town of Jasper, Texas, for which three white men were put on trial, individually, the following year. The filmmakers ingeniously split up: a black crew filmed the city’s black residents, and a white crew filmed its whites. This division of labor allows its subjects talk in in something like private, revealing the complexities of their beliefs, and how deeply they’re ingrained – from the “Bubbas…
Review by nickfadden ★★★★½

Two directors, one black and one white, capture two parts of a town, one black and one white, as the entire community goes through the trial of three white men for the murder of a black man. A very honest look at race and criminal justice.