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NATCHEZ captures an unsettling clash between history and memory in a small Mississippi town; a layered mosaic of people contending with the weight of the past in a place where it is always present. Equal parts amusing and disturbing, we journey through an antebellum tourist destination at a crossroads as it grapples with a deeply troubled history that is so thoroughly ingrained in its present, we’re left to wonder if it’s actually past at all.

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2025

WINNER: BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
SPECIAL JURY MENTION: CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: NOAH COLLIER
SPECIAL JURY MENTION: EDITING IN A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: PABLO PROENZA

THE NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW

TOP 5 DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR

INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION (IDA AWARDS)

NOMINATED - BEST EDITING, PABLO PROENZA

MIDDLEBURY NEW FILMMAKERS FILM FESTIVAL 2025

WINNER: BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

SIDEWALK FILM FESTIVAL 2025

WINNER: BEST DOCUMENTARY
AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BLACK LENS, DEDICATED TO BLACK NATCHEZIANS ‘REV’ COLLINS, DEBBIE COSEY, BARNEY SCHOBY AND SER BOXLEY

CHARLOTTE FILM FESTIVAL 2025

WINNER: DOCUMENTARY FEATURE AUDIENCE AWARD

PHILADELPHIA FILM FESTIVAL 2025

WINNER: BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

NEW ORLEANS FILM FESTIVAL 2025

HONORABLE MENTION: BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY

AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL 2025

AMERICAN DOCS COMPETITION AUDIENCE AWARD

FAIRHOPE FILM FESTIVAL 2025

BEST ORIGINAL STORYTELLING

SUN VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 2025

ONE IN A MILLION

MACON FILM FESTIVAL 2025

BEST DOCUMENTARY

HOT SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2025

SPECIAL MENTION: CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARD

HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2025

EXCELLENCE IN DIRECTING - NEW YORK WOMEN IN FILM & TV

PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

BEST DOCUMENTARY

“STUNNING. A wide-ranging mosaic of cinematic portraiture, with one of the most extraordinary presences in the recent cinema. ‘Natchez’ reflects a national moment.”

“Herbert is cannily drawing on and playing with the conventions of fairy tales, both visually and structurally. NATCHEZ is less about the individuals and more about the histories they’re part of and the way they crash into one another. The real story is never what you see on the surface.”

“A revelation. Herbert does not interrupt or editorialize. Instead, she observes how racism circulates as entertainment, how laughter becomes complicity and how heritage tourism creates a space in which violence can be repackaged as authenticity. Herbert’s camera resists this fantasy by turning away from spectacle and toward detail.”

“What starts seemingly as a curious look at one Mississippi town’s legacy regarding slavery winds up as a deeper exploration of how history should be represented, especially when it comes to humanity’s mistake.”

“With so many engaging voices on offer, Suzannah Herbert wisely chooses to let the locals tell the story rather than providing any explicit narration of her own.”

“Herbert’s selection and timing of telling moments are exceptional. She allows us to consider one figure as quirky, then gains our sympathy, before revealing his appalling racism.”

“You’re not going to see a more timely movie this year than ‘Natchez,’ ...A luminous and solitary candle, sputtering brightly in a tempestuous moment of American darkness. Ravishingly filmed and astutely edited...watching this film is listening to history.”

“The sociological themes resonate beyond the boundaries of the titular Mississippi riverfront city in this fascinating documentary about generational shifts and historical reckonings.”

“If you see one documentary in your life…it should be this one.”

“Intelligent and observant… It raises much wider issues about the importance of truth and history that extend well beyond the town boundaries of Natchez itself.”

“One of the Great Documentaries of the 21st Century – and the 19th Century as well.
[A] stylish and sophisticated look at the Old South… Deliriously enjoyable and enlightening.”

“[A] stellar sophomore feature… [A] sensitive, sympathetic portrayal of a Gone with the Wind-cinematic city.”

“A real jaw-dropper.”

“A tough and complex depiction of intractable racism.”

“[A] brilliant film… Gives us extraordinary insight into the racial politics of the city
and the deep divide between Black and white perceptions of Southern history.”

“Director Suzannah Herbert delivers a documentary where tradition and truth mix, mingle,  and clash.”

“A riveting documentary.”

You should visit Natchez yourself!  It’s a beautiful, complicated place, and while we were making the documentary, we met tour guides, historic homeowners and businesses that are leaning into the full history.  So we made you a guide for your next trip to Natchez, with some folks you meet in our movie, and some great local tours, restaurants, bars and experiences to check out!

OPEN THE VISITORS' GUIDE

Akron, OH - The Nightlight

Atlanta, GA - The Tara

Atlanta, GA - Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (UUCA)

Austin, TX - Austin Film Society - AFS Cinema

Baltimore, MD - New/Next Film Festival

Baton Rouge, LA - Manship Theatre

Bay St. Louis, MS - Bay St. Louis Film Festival

Bellingham, WA - Doctober Film Festival

Bentonville, AR - Bentonville Film Festival

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Sidewalk Cinema

Birmingham, AL - Sidewalk Film Festival

Boulder, CO - Boedecker Theater - Dairy Arts Center

Canton, GA - Peaberry Film Festival

Chapel Hill, NC - Chelsea Theater

Charlotte, NC - Charlotte Film Festival

Charlottsville, VA - Violet Crown Charlottesville

Chatham, NY - Crandell Theatre

CHICAGO, IL - Gene Siskel Film Center

Cleveland, OH - Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque

Columbia, SC - Nickelodeon Theater (The Nick)

COLUMBUS, OH - Gateway Film Center

Concord, NH - Red River Theatres

Coral Gables, FL - Coral Gables Art Cinema

Dallas, TX - Oak Cliff Film Festival

Dayton, OH - The Neon

Fairhope, AL - Fairhope Film Festival

Fayetteville, AR - Malco Razorback Cinema Grill & IMAX

Fayetteville, NC - Cameo Collective

Hamptons, NY - Hamptons International Film Festival

Hattiesburg, MS - Southwest Theaters Turtle Creek 9

Homer, AK - The Porcupine Theater

Hot Springs National Park, AR - Hot Springs Documentary Film Fest

Houghton, MI - 41 N Film Festival

Hudson, NY - Time & Space, LTD

Indianapolis, IN - Heartland International Film Festival

Iowa City, IA - FilmScene

Jackson, MS - The Capri Theater

Lafayette, LA - Southern Screen Film Festival

Lake Placid, NY - Lake Placid Film Festival

Leipzig, Germany - DOK Leipzig Film Festival

Lexington, KY - Kentucky Theater

Lincoln, NE - Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center

Lorman, MS - Alcorn State University

Los Angeles, CA - Laemmle Glendale

Los Angeles, CA - Vidiots

Louisville, KY - Speed Art Museum

Macon, GA - Macon Film Festival

Madison, MS - Malco Grandview Cinema & IMAX

Memphis, TN - Crosstown Arts

Middlebury, VT - Middlebury New Filmmakers Film Festival

Millerton, NY - The Moviehouse

Milwaukee, WI - MKE Dialogues Documentary Film Festival

Milwaukee, WI - Oriental Theater

Modesto, CA - The State Theatre of Modesto

Montclair, NJ - Montclair Film Festival

Montgomery, AL - Capri Theater

Nantucket, MA - The Nantucket Dreamland

Nashville, TN - The Belcourt

Natchez, MS - Natchez Community Center

Natchez, MS - Natchez Literary & Cinema Celebration

New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Film Festival

New ORLEANS, LA - The Broad Theater

New ORLEANS, LA - Prytania Theatres at Canal Place

New Paltz, NY - Denizen Theatre

New York, NY - DCTV

New York, NY - Tribeca Festival

Orlando, FL - Global Peace Film Festival

Overland Park, KS - Glenwood Arts Theater

Paducah, KY - Maiden Alley Cinema

Park City, UT - Park City Film

Palm Springs, CA - Palm Springs International Film Festival

Pensacola, FL - Pensacola Cinema Art

Philadelphia, PA - Philadelphia Film Festival

Pleasantville, NY - Jacob Burns Film Center

Port Huron, MI - SC4 Cinemas at Sperry's

Portland, OR - Tomorrow Theatre

Portsmouth, NH - New Hampshire Film Festival

Rochester, NY - The Little

San Diego, CA - Digital Gym Cinema

San Francisco, CA - 4 Star Theater

San Francisco, CA - The Little Roxie

Santa Barbara, CA - SBIFF Film Center

Santa Fe, NM - Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) Cinema

Savannah, GA - SCAD Film Festival

Sedona, AZ - Mary D. Fisher Theatre

Sheffield, England - Sheffield DocFest

Smyrna, TN - Malco Smyrna Cinema

Springfield, MO - Moxie Cinema

Sun Valley, ID - Sun Valley Film Festival

Tacoma, WA - The Grand Cinema

Tallahassee, FL - Tallahassee Film Society at the Challenger Learning Center IMAX

Tampa, FL - Sun-Ray Cinema

Traverse City, MI - State Theatre

Washington, DC - DC/DOX

Washington, DC - Suns Cinema - Theater & Bar

West Newton, MA - West Newton Cinema

Wilmington, NC - Cucalorus Film Festival

Wilmington, NC - Thalian Hall

Winston-Salem, NC - a/perture cinema

Worcester, MA - Cinema Worcester

Wroclaw, Poland - American Film Festival

Featured
Suzannah Herbert
Suzannah Herbert

DIRECTOR/PRODUCER

Suzannah Herbert makes films about the American South. Herbert’s directorial debut WRESTLE was nominated for two News & Documentary Emmys and named one of the top 5 documentaries of 2019 by the National Board of Review. WRESTLE (Oscilloscope/Independent Lens) was lauded as “Superb” by the LOS ANGELES TIMES, and hailed a NEW YORK TIMES Critic’s Pick. As an editor, Herbert has collaborated on Bob Dylan film projects, most recently editing the permanent experiential film at Tulsa’s Bob Dylan Center. She edited Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga’s Grammy-nominated music video, “I Get a Kick Out of You,” and the award-winning vérité film A WOMAN ON THE OUTSIDE (SXSW 2022, PBS AMERICA REFRAMED)

Awarded Best Documentary at its premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival, NATCHEZ has since been honored with 19 awards on the festival circuit and was named one of the top 5 documentaries of 2025 by the National Board of Review. THE NEW YORKER’S Richard Brody called NATCHEZ “Stunning.” Oscilloscope Laboratories released the film in over 80 cities and it was broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens in May 2026.

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Featured
Darcy McKinnon
Darcy McKinnon

PRODUCER

Darcy McKinnon is a documentary filmmaker based in New Orleans whose work focuses on the American South and the Caribbean. Recently released projects include A KING LIKE ME and ROLEPLAY (SXSW, 2024), COMMUTED (PBS, 2024), ALGIERS, AMERICA (Hulu, 2023), UNDER G-D (Sundance 2023), LOOK AT ME! XXXTENTACION (SXSW, Hulu, 2022) and THE NEUTRAL GROUND (Tribeca, POV, 2021). Current projects in production include Jason Fitzroy Jeffers’s THE FIRST PLANTATION, Abe Felix’s TURNAROUND, CJ Hunt’s UNLEARNED, Nicole Craine’s KINFOLK and Zac Manuel’s THE INSTRUMENT. McKinnon’s work has been seen on World Channel, AfroPop, POV, Reel South, LPB and Hulu and has screened at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, CPH:DOX and more. She is an alum of the Impact Partners Producing Fellowship and the Sundance Institute Creative Producing Fellowship and is a recipient of American Documentary’s Creative Visionary Award.

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Featured
Noah Collier
Noah Collier

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Noah Collier is a cinematographer and director whose directorial debut, CARPET COWBOYS, released by Memory, premiered theatrically in the U.S. in August 2023. Collier’s cinematography credits include the Sundance Special Jury award winner, JAWLINE (Hulu), THE COME UP (Hulu) and SANTA CAMP (HBO).

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Featured
Pablo Proenza
Pablo Proenza

EDITOR

Pablo Proenza has over 25 years of experience editing, writing and directing for film and television. NATCHEZ is his second collaboration with Suzannah Herbert, having co-written and edited Herbert's festival favorite WRESTLE. He has also been a longtime collaborator with Michael Moore and edited FAHRENHEIT 11/9, which premiered at TIFF and was called “fearless and profound” by Variety; served as a consulting producer on TRUMPLAND; and traveled half the world with Moore for the Oscar-shortlisted WHERE TO INVADE NEXT. Proenza also edited BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB: ADIOS for Oscar-nominated director Lucy Walker and, most recently, edited UVALDE MOM, which premiered at SXSW 2025. Other credits include directing and editing DARK MIRROR, which broke VOD records for IFC Films, directing an episode of the horror/doc show SCHOOL SPIRITS and directing his film debut, VIDI, which the Boston Phoenix called “a masterpiece.”

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Featured
Jesse Allain-Marcus
Jesse Allain-Marcus

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Jessse Allain-Marcus is an emmy-nominated editor, filmmaker, and writer whose work involves archives, science fiction, and recently analog filmmaking.

Jesse was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA before receiving a BA in English Literature, with a concentration in Race and Ethnicity, from Wesleyan University. Currently, he resides in Brooklyn, N.Y. and works as a freelance documentary editor. 

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Featured
Cindy Meehl
Cindy Meehl

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Cindy Meehl is an award-winning director and executive producer known for her feature film documentary work. She founded Cedar Creek Productions in 2008 and directed Buck, her debut film about renowned horse whisperer Buck Brannaman. Premiering at Sundance in 2011, Buck won the U.S. Documentary Audience Award and was shortlisted for an Academy Award.

Meehl also directed The Dog Doc (2019), about Dr. Marty Goldstein, a veterinarian known for his unconventional healing practices, that premiered at Tribeca and was released in 2020. Her latest directorial venture Jimmy & The Demons, follows celebrated artist James Grashow’s marvelous adventure of creating his magnum opus. The film premiered at Tribeca in 2025 and won several jury awards in festivals around the country.

Cindy has been an executive producer on a range of critically acclaimed films including Natchez (dir. Herbert 2025), Fashion Reimagined  (dir. Hutner, 2022), Rewind  (dir. Neulinger, 2019), The River and the Wall (dir. Masters, 2019), For the Birds (dir. Miron, 2018),  Trapped (dir. Porter, 2016), Unbranded (dir. Baribeau, 2015), and Dogs on the Inside (dir. Cunningham and Seirup, 2014).

Meehl’s other directorial work includes the Telly Award-winning series  7 Clinics with Buck Brannaman and a music video for Templeton Thompson’s When I Get That Pony Rode.

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Featured
Sam Pollard
Sam Pollard

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Sam Pollard has been called one of “cinema’s most dedicated chroniclers of the Black experience in America.” He has collaborated with Spike Lee since 1990, editing and co-producing a number of Lee’s films, including 4 LITTLE GIRLS and WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE. Pollard has directed and produced SLAVERY BY ANOTHER NAME (PBS), AUGUST WILSON: THE GROUND ON WHICH I STAND (American Masters), TWO TRAINS RUNNIN’ (American Masters), SOUTH TO BLACK POWER (HBO), CITIZEN ASHE (CNN) and THE LEAGUE (Magnolia Pictures). He co-directed the six-part series WHY WE HATE (The Discovery Channel) and the HBO series ATLANTA’S MISSING AND MURDERED: THE LOST CHILDREN. His 2020 film MLK/FBI (IFC Films) was shortlisted for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

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Featured
Jacqueline Glover
Jacqueline Glover

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Jacqueline Glover is the Executive Director of the Black Film Project at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard, a newly created fellowship that supports established and emerging filmmakers focusing on the Black experience. Previously, Glover was at Disney, as Head of ABC News Documentary Films and Head of Documentary Programming for Onyx Collective, where she developed, produced, and acquired nonfiction projects for Hulu, including Emmy® nominated "Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields" and Oscar® winning documentary, "Summer of Soul." Prior to that, she was Senior Vice President of HBO Documentary Films, overseeing all aspects of the department's programming, including development, acquisitions, and production. Projects included Emmy® Award winner and Peabody Award winner “True Justice," Emmy® Award winner “King in the Wilderness,” Oscar® winner “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1,” and Spike Lee’s Oscar® nominated documentary "4 Little Girls,” and his Emmy® Award winning documentary “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.” Glover also produced HBO’s “Unchained Memories: Readings From the Slave Narratives,” which received 4 Emmy® nominations.

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Featured
Mari Nakachi
Mari Nakachi

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Mari Nakachi is the founder of Lakeville Productions, a company specializing in creating engaging non-fiction and narrative projects for both U.S. and international audiences. With over 20 years of experience producing successful stage productions and visual media in New York and Japan, Nakachi has a strong background in cross-cultural content creation. Her work in visual media includes co-directing and producing a documentary for Asahi TV and translating the poignant Japanese children's book Every Year When August Comes into English, which subsequently reached Danish and Swedish audiences, underscoring the power of storytelling to transcend cultural boundaries. Previously, as a partner at Carrmaquest Productions, Nakachi produced the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Dinner with Friends.” Her extensive theatrical productions have garnered numerous accolades, including a Tony Award® nomination, a Lucille Lortel Award, a Dramatist Guild Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, the American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, and a Drama Desk Award nomination. Nakachi has also contributed her expertise as a panelist for the “Made in NY: Behind the Scenes” Industry Series event at the Apollo Theatre, presented by the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and The Broadway League. 

A former corporate attorney, she is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Virginia School of Law. Her commitment to the arts began early with Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and continues through her service on the boards of the Second Stage Theater, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Foundation, and Harvard College.

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Featured
Ted Haddock
Ted Haddock

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Ted Haddock is Founder & President of Common Pictures, a not-for-profit film company producing stories that humanize, inspire and heal our broken world. Ted also serves as President of The Edward E. Haddock, Jr. Family Foundation, investing in social justice and environmental stewardship. Previously, Ted served as Director of Photography with International Justice Mission in Washington, DC, providing a global voice for survivors of human rights abuses. He earned an MFA in photography from Indiana University and a BA from Furman University. Ted and his wife Kellie live with their family in Orlando, Fla.

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Featured
Bill Harnisch
Bill Harnisch

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Bill Harnisch, co-founder of the Harnisch Foundation, bought his first share of stock when he was barely into his teens. That was over 60 years ago and Bill’s fascination with markets continues to this day. His success in the equity investment business provides the money that fuels the philanthropy.

Founded in 2000, his Peconic Partners hedge fund is his main vehicle for investment. He managed and sold two other investment firms during his career. Bill graduated from Baruch College of the City University of New York, where he now serves as a trustee of the Baruch College Fund Board and is a member of the Investment Committee. He was awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1977, and is a member of the CFA Institute. He also belongs to the New York Academy of Sciences, YPO, and CEO.

His opinions on markets have been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, The New York Times, Business Week, Bloomberg News, and many other international publications.

Bill’s industry expertise in the field of health care informs his philanthropic interests, and in fact it was at an event for one of his medical charities that he met his future wife, Ruth Ann. In recent years Bill has taken a very active role in the Foundation’s work. He’s been an advisor and coach to TED Fellows as well as Baruch students who receive scholarships he’s endowed. He’s led the research on most of the social change documentaries in which the Foundation has invested.

He’s never forgotten his Queens, New York roots and he will gladly show you where he learned to swim, which in perfect alignment with our mission, used to be the Boys Club, and is now the Boys and Girls Club.

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Featured
Ruth Ann Harnisch
Ruth Ann Harnisch

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Ruth Ann founded the Harnisch Foundation in 1998, not only fully aware of the unfairness that allows families of wealth to shelter income from taxes but also determined to make the best use of this advantage. (Neither she nor any family member is on the Foundation’s payroll.) She’s a traitor to her economic class by working to end her own tax breaks. In the meantime, she purposes herself to use this privilege on behalf of others.

Prior to her philanthropic focus, Ruth Ann’s multimedia career in Nashville,TN allowed her to break a few glass ceilings. She was a television news reporter and anchor (fun fact, Oprah was her cubicle neighbor at CBS affiliate WTVF-TV), radio talk show host (WLAC-AM), OpEd Columnist and newspaper feature writer (Nashville Banner). This work taught her how public policy affected everyday lives and the fate of the world. Her days and nights on those jobs were a constant adventure in discovering what can go wrong in the world (and how people can prevent, fix, and/or reverse wrongness). She learned there were many ways to create social change.

One sure way to influence change is to apply money. So when Ruth Ann and Bill Harnisch married (and his generosity added personal financial resources to her tools of influence), TheHF was born. Millions of dollars and thousands of grants later, she’s grateful for the opportunity to make a difference in the causes she cares about most. Because she’s been sensitive to systems of inequality throughout her life, her philanthropic interests lean toward creating a fairer world for everyone, especially those who don’t benefit from a world built to serve white straight cis able-bodied men.

Outside of the foundation, Ruth Ann is a private investor with a portfolio that includes women-led startups. Ruth Ann invests both personal and philanthropic capital in content creation, including feature films, documentaries, series, and other media that advance social causes and explore topics of important public interest, often in partnership with other funders including Impact Partners. Her documentary films have been shortlisted for (Unrest), nominated for (The Hunting Ground), and won (Icarus, Best Documentary Feature, 2017) Oscar consideration.

Ruth Ann is also a professional certified coach. She has an active pro bono practice coaching “people who are up to something big in the world,” skills that also inform her volunteer service as a trained Crisis Text Line crisis counselor. Ruth Ann is a member of the Women Donors Network, Women Moving Millions, Rachel’s Network (environmental funders), the International Women’s Forum (Tennessee and New York City Forums), the Women at Sundance Leadership Council, and the Leadership Nashville Alumni Association. If you see her bouncing around the Zoom chat, she’s getting in those Fitbit steps. And because she’s over 70 she’ll be wearing a mask wherever she’s working on dismantling patriarchal white supremacy.

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Rachel Witwer
Line Producer

Brian Fish
Sound Engineer

Sean O’Neil
Sound Engineer

James Newberry
Music

Katie Pham
Associate Producer, Archival Research

Judy Aley
Archival Consultant

Hennen Payne
Additional Photography

Jozefina Gocman
Additional Photography

Adolph Steele
Grip

Sam Gursky
Visual Effects

Matt Davies, MPSE
Re-Recording Mixer

NATCHEZ could not have been made without the support of: