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Lantern to play Oscar doc ‘Hale County’ on Monday

Dan Webster

A documentary film titled "Hale County This Morning, This Evening" has been added to the Magic Lantern's schedule. The film will screen at 7 p.m. Monday.

Directed by RaMell Ross, "Hale County This Morning, This Evening" is a study filmed over several years of a rural section of Hale County, Alabama. Besides directing, Ross co-wrote the script, acted as both cinematographer and editor. The film has been nominated for a 2019 Best Documentary Feature Oscar.

Here are some critical comments:

Glenn Kenny, New York Times: "The filmmaker’s poetic logic is inextricable from his consciousness of race and community, and of his function and potential as an artist grappling with his own circumstances and those of the people he’s depicting. 'Hale County This Morning, This Evening' is not a long film, but it contains whole worlds."

Bilge Biri, Village Voice: "By sticking to his impressionistic perspective, by fracturing his narrative, Ross achieves something genuinely poetic — a film whose very lightness is the key to its depth."

Andrew Crump, The Playlist: "Like life itself, 'Hale County This Morning, This Evening' doesn’t lend itself to immediate comprehension. It’s to Ross’ credit that his work remains so thoroughly accessible and engrossing regardless."

The screening is part of the Lantern's Monday Movies series, which is sponsored by The Alliance for Media Arts + Culture.