Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts

Released Apr 16, 2021

1h 15m

Documentary

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This illuminating documentary explores the life of a unique American artist, a man with a remarkable and unlikely biography. Bill Traylor was born into slavery in 1853 on a cotton plantation in rural Alabama. After the Civil War, Traylor continued to farm the land as a sharecropper until the late 1920s. Aging and alone, he moved to Montgomery and worked odd jobs in the thriving segregated black neighborhood. A decade later, in his late 80s, Traylor became homeless and started to draw and paint, both memories from plantation days and scenes of a radically changing urban culture. Having witnessed profound social and political change during a life spanning slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow segregation, and the Great Migration, Traylor devised his own visual language to translate an oral culture into something original, powerful, and culturally rooted. He made well over a thousand drawings and paintings between 1939-1942. This colorful, strikingly modernist work eventually led him to be recognized as one of America's greatest self-taught artists and the subject of a Smithsonian retrospective. Using historical and cultural context, Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts brings the spirit and mystery of Traylor's incomparable art to life. Making dramatic and surprising use of tap dance and evocative period music, the film balances archival photographs and footage, insightful perspectives from his descendants, and Traylor's striking drawings and paintings to reveal one of America's most prominent artists to a wide audience.

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Michael Rechtshaffen

Los Angeles Times

If every picture tells a story, the body of work displayed in the hauntingly intriguing documentary "Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts" speaks volumes on the life and times of the artist in question.

Apr 17, 2021

Full Review

Nick Allen

RogerEbert.com

Chasing Ghosts has a great idea in showcasing as much of Traylor's work as possible, and next to the creations of other Black artists, but its talking head presentation is fairly didactic.

Rated: 2.5/4

Apr 16, 2021

Full Review

John DeFore

Hollywood Reporter

A surprising and worthwhile take on an enigmatic artist.

Apr 16, 2021

Full Review

Pat Padua

Spectrum Culture

A terrific introduction to a remarkable artist and a thought-provoking look at race in the art world.

Rated: 79/100

Apr 28, 2021

Full Review

Todd Jorgenson

Cinemalogue

The well-researched film is uneven in its approach, but makes a persuasive case for Traylor's talent and the value of his artistic legacy.

Apr 21, 2021

Full Review

Louis Proyect

Counterpunch.org

A film that is part of Black America's cultural renaissance that goes hand in hand with the Black Lives Matter revolution against white supremacy.

Apr 17, 2021

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Jeffrey Wolf

Director

Russell G. Jones

Self

Jason Samuels Smith

Self

Sharon Washington

Self

Fred Barron

Writer

Fred Barron

Producer

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Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

This illuminating documentary explores the life of a unique American artist, a man with a remarkable and unlikely biography. Bill Traylor was born into slavery in 1853 on a cotton plantation in rural Alabama. After the Civil War, Traylor continued to farm the land as a sharecropper until the late 1920s. Aging and alone, he moved to Montgomery and worked odd jobs in the thriving segregated black neighborhood. A decade later, in his late 80s, Traylor became homeless and started to draw and paint, both memories from plantation days and scenes of a radically changing urban culture. Having witnessed profound social and political change during a life spanning slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow segregation, and the Great Migration, Traylor devised his own visual language to translate an oral culture into something original, powerful, and culturally rooted. He made well over a thousand drawings and paintings between 1939-1942. This colorful, strikingly modernist work eventually led him to be recognized as one of America's greatest self-taught artists and the subject of a Smithsonian retrospective. Using historical and cultural context, Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts brings the spirit and mystery of Traylor's incomparable art to life. Making dramatic and surprising use of tap dance and evocative period music, the film balances archival photographs and footage, insightful perspectives from his descendants, and Traylor's striking drawings and paintings to reveal one of America's most prominent artists to a wide audience.

Director: Jeffrey Wolf
Producer: Fred Barron, Daphne McWilliams, Jeany Nisenholz-Wolf, Jeffrey Wolf
Screenwriter: Fred Barron
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Production Co: Breakaway Films NY
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 16, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 22, 2021
Runtime: 1h 15m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR

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