The Films of Bill Ferris

In 2018, the Atlanta label Dust-to-Digital released the box set Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris, a three-disc release accompanied by a one-hundred-twenty page booklet of notes on the project (this thorough compilation, not surprisingly, won Ferris Grammys for “Best Historical Album” and “Best Album Notes”). The landmark release is the life work of the folklorist, historian, and beloved retired UNC professor, Bill Ferris, but the recordings represent only a portion of Ferris’s archives: beyond his writing and recording work, he has also produced fifteen documentary films. At this Dust-to-Digital event, a short program of Ferris’s films produced in Mississippi between 1968-1980 will be followed by a Q&A, as well as a conversation between Ferris and Center for Documentary Studies professor Tom Rankin.              —Sarah Edwards