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FILM: “Welcome to Shelbyville”

Posted October 5, 2010 by Ted Hesson

From the mid-1990s until recent years, people fleeing war-torn Somali have comprised a sizable portion of the refugees resettled in the US.

Tensions over resettlement have been documented along the way: culture clashes in resettlement towns like Lewiston, Maine, where Somali refugees stand out among white residents for their skin color, dress, and faith. In 2006, the national media flocked to Lewiston when a white resident rolled a pig’s head into a mosque while congregants were praying, an act that caused controversy because pigs are considered unfit for consumption in the Muslim faith.

The resident, Brent Matthews, said that the incident was a prank, but newspaper editorials and civil rights groups across the country characterized the act as a hate crime. Less than a year later, Matthews committed suicide, and disturbing images found on his MySpace page suggested that the mosque incident was more than a joke. From the Lewiston Sun Journal:

After his death, many friends wandered onto Matthews’ MySpace page, leaving sorrowful good-bye messages filled with love. Some had known about the site for awhile. Others only found out about it after his death.

Dark and violent, the site features guns and explosives, a racially insensitive fake ad and references to immigrants. One photo shows a bawdy actor/comedian carrying a pig’s head like a football. Personal photos show Matthews grinning and posing with various guns, including automatic weapons.

With communities like Lewiston in the backdrop, Somali resettlement and the concurrent tensions are further investigated in “Welcome to Shelbyville,” a documentary that will screen at the Hamptons International Film Festival this weekend.

The documentary chronicles the reaction of white, black, and Latino residents as Somali refugees enter a small community in Tennessee and begin working in a local meat packing plant.

In addition to screening the documentary, you can catch an October 8 panel discussion with “Welcome to Shelbyville” director Kim Snyder and other directors and producers from related festival films (4:30pm, First Presbyterian Church Session House). The panel will focus on how non-fiction filmmaking can influence political discourse, an especially relevant topic as midterm congressional elections approach.

Click here for a link to the “Welcome to Shelbyville” Facebook page and scroll down for a preview from the film:

Tags : documentary, film, hamptons international film festival, refugees, somali refugees, somalia

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