For all that six-year-old Hushpuppy knows, her home in “the Bathub” in Louisiana’s southern Delta may as well be at the end of the world—a mythical place cut off from society at large, where the resilience of the human spirit is pitted against the often cruel mistress of Mother Nature. When a storm of biblical proportions threatens to wash their home away, Hushpuppy and the citizens of the Bathtub band together to keep the hurricane at bay. First-time filmmaker Behn Zeitlin’s mad labor of love captures the essence of the indomitable American spirit, powered by the kind of freedom that comes only with being completely unafraid. All the more impressive for its humble homespun production ethic and its cast of non-professional actors (including Quvenzhané Wallis, one of the year’s greatest discoveries), this Sundance and Cannes award winner is not to be missed.
In Person: Executive producer Michael Raisler.