Three Gorges Dam social consequences
My goal upon graduation is to expand my film into a larger story.  What has recently taken place in China, is the same thing that happened to families of the North Shore almost seventy years ago, except this time on a massive scale.  My desire is to bring together some of the displaced families of the Yangtze River Valley and former residents of the North Shore.  The former North Shore residents who are still living (and their descendants), may be able to provide some measure of comfort to the newly displaced in China.  My hope is that they will share their stories, learn from each other, build new and lasting relationships, and help each other heal: old wounds for the North Shore people, and new wounds for the people in China.

Last October, Kelly Strawinski (DP), Jessie Hagen (Producer) and I travelled to Hazel Creek, on the North Shore of Fontana Lake.  There, we visited the remains of Proctor, NC.  Accompanying us was Christine Proctor, who led us to Proctor cemetery.  Proctor is the oldest cemetery on the North Shore.  A monument there honors Christine's ancestors Moses and Patience Proctor, the first white settlers on the North Shore.

The North Shore Cemetery Association and Historical Society
The North Shore Cemetery Association is made up of former residents of the North Shore of Fontana Lake, and their descendants.  They maintain the cemeteries that still remain on the North Shore, inaccessible by road since the valley was flooded (Lauada Cemetery Association maintains the Lauada cemetery).  The road that was promised by the government to gain access to the North Shore was never completed.  This is the famous "Road to Nowhere."  Their annual reunion takes place in September at the Deep Creek campground within Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  My "Lost Souls" team (DP Kelly Strawinski, Producer Jessie Hagen) and I were invited to film the event last year, where we shot interviews with former residents of the North Shore.

     Lost Souls of Lauada is a feature-length documentary film which explores what happened when the TVA relocated family graves during WWII before the Little Tennessee River Valley was flooded to create Fontana Lake, the effect it left upon the community, and their concerns for the future of these graves.  It will examine the complicated relationship between pride in one’s cultural heritage, and the economic and political reality of the community at large.