Come Hell or High Water is a personal documentary of epic proportions. Filmmaker Leah Mahan began documenting the family history of her friend, Derrick Evans, after they graduated from college together in Boston. We see Turkey Creek, Mississippi, in 2001 as Derrick gathers elders from the community to tell and preserve their stories. What began as a personal project between friends becomes the tale of an endangered community as the years roll on.
Derrick leaves Boston on sabbatical, moving to Turkey Creek as it faces the expansion of an airport and commercial development. Environmental organizations become involved as Turkey Creek is not only a historically black community founded by former slaves but protected wetlands and endangered bird habitats. 2005 Brings the dual threat of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which nearly bring an end to the hopes of preserving Turkey Creek. The documentary ends sometime in 2010, returning its focus to Derrick as he faces a decision: he cannot live two lives. He must choose between Turkey Creek and Boston.
Gentrification, environmental racism, government inaction, and societal apathy unwind over a decade of footage in Come Hell or High Water. Leah Mahan shows herself as an expert in the documentary format, packing this 56-minute film with what most directors would give you in three hours. Her interjections and exposition are always thoughtful and welcome beside Derrick’s thoughts and experiences, but Derrick is the driving force behind this documentary. We follow him between his chosen home in Boston and his birth home of Turkey Creek as he and his community fight against the local, state, and federal governments which favor investor dollars over environmental protection and endangered history.
We see horrors typically depicted in documentaries about indigenous people living in rural areas happen just outside one of Mississippi’s largest cities: Graves are desecrated to put in apartment complexes, and runoff bubbles into EPA-protected Turkey Creek, all the while, elected officials and administrators turn blind eyes to the issue, courting development money. This documentary is a must-see for anyone interested in environmental justice, black history, or stellar documentary filmmaking. Highly Recommended. Editor’s Choice.
Where does this title belong on public library shelves?
Come Hell or High Water belongs primarily on environmental documentary shelves, but would also fit in biography, American ethnography, and black history collections.
What type of film series could this documentary fit in?
Come Hell or High Water belongs in any documentary series about environmental racism and ecological justice.
What instructors could use this film?
Any college-level instructor should consider this film for classroom use. High school, undergrad, and graduate-level ecology courses, public policy and management, and black history instructors will find the greatest value in Come Hell or High Water.
How does this film contribute to a discussion of environmental or climate justice, and/or to environmental literacy?
Come Hell or High Water is an outstanding case study on environmental racism and the struggles communities face in seeking environmental justice.
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Teacher's Guide
Curators & Writers
This documentary was selected by Amity Doolittle, senior lecturer and research scientist at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and written by Caroline Scanlan, Liz Felker and Elham Shabahat, graduate students at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Why we selected this film
The importance of Come High or Hell Water lives in its ability to draw connections between civil rights and responsible urban development, environmental conservation, and environmental disaster relief and recovery. The film highlights the personal experiences of local grassroots activists, including their respective strategies for working toward justice in the Turkey Creek community.
Please see the teacher's guide for maps, background information and suggested subjects, questions and activities.
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