Americus, Ga. – Growing up at Koinonia Farm near Americus, Ga., Faith Fuller always heard about the turbulent events surrounding the multiracial community during segregation in the 1950s and 1960s. In her new documentary entitled, Briars in the Cotton Patch: The Story of Koinonia Farm, she aims to shed light on this chapter of civil rights history.
The idea to create the hour-long documentary formed in October 1999 when Fuller interviewed former Koinonia members for a seven-minute video she was producing for Habitat for Humanity International. During the production, Fuller heard first-hand accounts from people who lived and worked as equals on the multiracial farm in the Deep South, when beliefs in segregating the races ran deep.
“As I was interviewing these people, I became fascinated with its story. Even though I grew up at Koinonia, I never took the time to understand it,” said Fuller. “As I listened, I became more drawn into this amazing history.”
Having studied communications at Florida State University and worked as a television news reporter, Fuller says she decided to put on her journalist cap and set out to create a documentary that would accurately tell Koinonia’s story.
Briars takes viewers back to the humble beginnings of Koinonia Farm in 1942, when it was founded by Clarence Jordan, a Biblical scholar, as an experiment in Christian living. According to the documentary, blacks and whites worked on the farm together, receiving equal pay and living accommodations in exchange for their labor. This drew the attention of local segregationists opposed to the idea of equality between the races.
The documentary recounts bombings, shootings and boycotts directed at the commune in the late 1950’s to drive the farm out of business and disband its members.
In researching the story, Fuller relied on interviews with more than 30 people, which included former members of Koinonia Farm, the local area’s African-American community and business leaders in Americus at the time. Bobby Mathis, one of the people interviewed, remembers that he and other African-American children were warned by their parents not to go out to Koinonia because they feared possible backlash from the community if they were thought to be associated with members of the commune.
Fuller also used accounts by local newspapers and national media such as The New York Times and the radio show “Report to the People,” which compared the conflicts at Koinonia Farm to the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956.
“There was a sense of foreboding, I guess is the best way to describe it, in the community,” Americus resident Frank Myers says in ‘Briars’ when describing the relationship between Koinonia and the surrounding community. “Fear for them, fear for us.”
The experience of producing the documentary was personal for Fuller because she remembers feeling that her family wasn’t accepted when they first moved to Americus after having lived at Koinonia Farm for more than five years.
“It was a wonderful journey and healing process for me to understand why there was resentment and misunderstanding,” said Fuller.
The latter part of Briars delves into the story of her parents, Millard and Linda Fuller, moving to Americus in 1977 after founding Habitat for Humanity at Koinonia. The idea of Habitat had taken root at the farm in 1968 after the Fullers decided to give away their possessions to pursue a life of service.
The documentary examines Millard Fuller and Clarence Jordan’s ideas on how to use the farm to help poor people living in Sumter County. One of their ideas evolved into a revolving fund that helped families living in shacks move into decent housing.
“Clarence said if you are going to be an authentic disciple of Jesus, you have to take Jesus seriously, try to understand what his message really was about and incorporate it in our daily lives,” explains Millard Fuller. “And that is why we started building houses. That was a relevant need in Sumter County.”
More than five years after she began producing Briars, Fuller looks back and remembers the weekends, holidays and vacations she spent working on the project. She feels the program, which is narrated by former Atlanta Mayor and Civil Rights veteran Andrew Young, is a work of high professional quality and hopes all PBS stations across the nation choose to broadcast the program in their states. Fuller is also thankful to the people who donated their time and money to make it possible. Most of all she hopes that the documentary will bring about an understanding of the past and preserve a piece of history.
Atlanta, GA – June 18, 2005 – It was announced tonight at the Southeast Regional EMMY awards gala that Briars in the Cotton Patch won the EMMY for Best Script. The script was written by Atlanta-based producer Michael Booth.
Washington, DC, July 6, 2004 – “Briars in the Cotton Patch” has been selected to receive a CINE Golden Eagle Award. “It is a pleasure to acknowledge the excellent filmmaking craftsmanship evident in your production”, writes Mary Frost, Chair of the CINE Competition Committee. Founded in 1957 by a consortium representing business, education, and government to depict American life and thought realistically for a global audience, CINE continues to recognize and foster the highest quality of non-theatrical film and video production through its semi-annual competitions. Recipients of CINE Golden Eagles include Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Lasseter, David Grubin, Barbara Kopple, Charles Guggenheim, Ken Burns, Albert Maysles, Debra Chasnoff and many others distinguished for their work with the moving image.
