WILMINGTON — Filmmaker Alicia Inshiradu has spent nearly 20 years on her film, a memorial of sorts to the violence that ripped the Port City apart on Nov. 10, 1898.
At the time, Wilmington – just 30 years after the Civil War – seemed to be a surprisingly successful model of racial cooperation, with both whites and blacks on the City Council, a thriving black community in the Brooklyn neighborhood, and the state’s only black-run newspaper, Alex and Frank G. Manly’s Daily Record. (A full accounting of Wilmington in the late 19th century and the “insurrection” that followed can be found here, as part of North Carolina’s 2006 commission on the event.)
The worst day in Wilmington history
But racial tensions erupted when white leaders – including Alfred Waddell and Hugh MacRae – led an attack on the city’s black population.
Inshiradu described the events of Nov. 10.
“Within a six-hour time span, a mob of thousands, led by self-proclaimed white supremacist Democrats, burned down a black press, running its editor, Alex Manly, out of town,” Inshiradu said. “Several businessmen, Republican politicians and property owners, both black and white, were permanently banished from the city. Local government was illegally overthrown, enacting the only American coup d’etat, and countless numbers of blacks were murdered or (went) missing from the city forever.”
Inshiradu said her film project, “What the River Knows,” is not a historical or political endeavor, but story about a young man who’s great-great grandfather is killed in the riot. It’s a personal look at history, Inshiradu said, about the need to “have a proper memorial not only for (his ancestor) but for the entire city.”
The film project is not about recrimination but education, Inshiradu said.
“It’s about us not knowing the past of what happened in 1898 and if you don’t know or accept or acknowledge your past, you are doomed to repeat the lesson,” she said.
Digging into the past
Inshiradu herself spent a long time learning about the events of Nov. 10, 1898. She came to Wilmington in 1997, entering UNCW’s graduate program in creative writing. While searching for a thesis topic, Inshiradu caught a showing of John Singleton’s “Rosewood,” a fictional account of the 1923 massacre of black residents by a white mob in the town of Rosewood, Fla.
According to Inshiradu, the film inspired her to “research what happened in my new hometown” of Wilmington.
While researching the Port City’s troubled history – including the 1898 violence – Inshiradu came across the inspiration for her film. In the New Hanover County’s downtown library, she found the J. L. Hill business directory from 1897; the Virginia-based publication listed businesses across Virginia and North Carolina (you can check out a full online copy of the 1897 copy from the North Carolina archive).
Inshiradu found an entry for Balaam Fuller, the city’s only billboard painter and a black man (the directory noted which entries were for “colourd” business owners).
In her telling, Fuller is murdered during the 1898 riot. In fact, Fuller’s ghost haunts “What the River Knows” — in the story’s present tense of 1998, his great-great grandson Bailey returns to Wilmington after years abroad, only to confront the spirit of his murdered ancestor.
What follows, according to Inshiradu, is part ghost-story, part murder mystery. Without giving too much away, Inshiradu said the story tries to answer questions both about literally “what happened” – to Bailey’s murdered great-great grandfather – but also the cultural “what happened” – as in what happened to Wilmington?
Inshiradu said she hopes that, despite its dark subject matter, is ultimately a positive effort, a “tale reinforcing the wisdom, memory, and consciousness of the resilient human spirit and catered to an audience in need of a symbolic clearing and release of a troubled past.”
Filming begins, at long last
The Wilmington filmmaker has been working on her script and trying to get it produced for two decades. This year, she decided to try something different. Inshiradu, taking a cue from the No Film School website and other Wilmington filmmakers, now plans to make a “teaser film,” first.
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“First the teaser, then the feature,” Inshiradu said. She plans to apply for a film grant in November when the teaser is complete.
But even a “teaser” film is no small undertaking; Inshiradu’s project is set in both 1998 and 1898, with detailed sets and costuming for both. The film also has a cast and crew of about 50. Inshiradu said she was dedicated to making sure every member of the team was compensated for her time, and is running an Indiegogo campaign to help ensure that happens. The campaign has raised about 40 percent of its goal so far.
Filming for “What the River Knows” will begin at the beginning of October at the Poplar Grove Plantation and continue the following week at Walker World.
Send comments and tips to Benjamin Schachtman at ben@localvoicemedia.com, @pcdben on Twitter, and (910) 538-2001.
