All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt is a film that, while confusing me at times, stuck with me for days after. It’s a film that doesn’t follow what most expect on how a story is told in film, but not experimental. At times, it feels like a vibe and other times, it is like being in a person’s mind as memories surface to the top; Raven Jackson’s debut feature film is a compelling piece of filmmaking that stands out in the year so far. This synopsis – “A lyrical, decades-spanning exploration across a woman’s life in Mississippi, the feature debut from award-winning poet, photographer, and filmmaker Raven Jackson is a haunting and richly layered portrait, a beautiful ode to the generations of people and places that shape us.” It is the closest thing to a plot recap you can put in a review. The main character is Mack, whom we follow from childhood to middle age. We see little vignettes of her life, learning lessons, facing tragedies, and honestly, things people might consider the boring things of life—the in-between moments of growing up, especially in late 20th-century life in the deep South.
Mack is played by three different actors – Kaylee Nicole as a child, Charleen McClure as a teen/young adult, and Zainab Jah as older Mack. Nicole and McClure have the most screen time as Mack, and both do really amazing work here and feel like they are playing the same character. Nicole’s young Mack is very quiet and does great work with their eyes and facial expressions. Their scenes with Sheila Atim and Chris Chalk as Mack’s parents, Evelyn and Isaiah, feel very authentic to the Black experience. Both of them give very strong yet short-seen performances. With things being from a child’s perspective of them, you see them in that way; it’s a holistic view of them but such a strong presence. I also enjoyed seeing Moses Ingram as Josie, Mack’s sister. Josie becomes more of a character during the older Mack sequences. The final “character” in the film is the cinematography. Raven Jackson, also being a photographer along with Jomo Fray, captures some beautiful looking photography in this film. The scenes have amazing color palettes that capture the moods of the scenes amazingly. It’s a film that I feel you can understand with no sound for the most part. Seeing this film on the big screen was a great experience.
Score: B+
