On Monday the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts hosted a screening of the documentary “Jackson” which was a part of the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers.
The screening was aired in the D.P. Culp Center Auditorium with a question and answer session after the documentary. “Jackson” centered around the last open abortion clinic in Jackson, Mississippi, and looked at how the Mississippi state laws affect women’s health care.
“The film took four years of filming and then a year of post production before it was released,” said Community Outreach Coordinator Abbie Perrault.
Perrault said that the director of the film, Maisie Crow, discovered the film subject in 2011 when she read an article in Jezebel about Mississippi’s last abortion clinic. Crow was stunned and immediately booked a flight to Mississippi to learn more about the clinic and to begin filming. Subsequently she released a short film called “The Last Clinic” and through discussions that came out of that, she realized she wanted to tell the wider story.
“I think it gives an even handed perspective on the reproductive rights issue and offers every side of the situation,” Perrault said.
“Jackson” centered around three separate stories within the women’s reproductive rights movement. The documentary focused on Mississippi’s last abortion clinic, a Crisis Center for women who are expecting and a young mother named April Jackson.
“I think the biggest take away for me was most likely not even about the topic itself, but probably the need for us to continue having these discussions openly and honestly. People from all different sides and different viewpoints,” audience member Nathan Farnor said. “I think this film did an excellent job of highlighting that that is possible.”
“Jackson” is a documentary that brings to light many of the issues that women still face today when it comes to reproductive rights, and the different viewpoints surrounding this topic.
“I hope that people will learn that lives are complex,” Farnor said. “There’s never going to be a person that quite fits the story or the mold that you may place for these really deep, challenging topics. In order to really learn you have to have these conversations, you have to talk to people and especially talk to those people who are living those lives themselves.”
