Dayton-Based Filmmaker Brittany Shyne Wins Award at Sundance Film Festival

Ohio independent filmmaker Brittany Shyne, a Dayton resident and Wright State University alum, won an award for her documentary “Seeds” at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Her film, which won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for Documentary, follows the stories and lives of Black farmers in the southern United States, specifically Georgia and Mississippi, who have owned and worked on their land for generations.

The documentary was lauded not only for the choice of black-and-white cinematography but also for sharing stories of intergenerational farm families, like the Williams, who have been on their land since 1883, or Willie Head Jr., who keeps his farm as a place for future generations.

“From its directing, cinematography and dreamlike immersion, this film takes us deep inside an essentially overlooked pocket of our country, whose residents struggle to hold onto their heritage as their way of life has come under threat,” noted the jury citation from Sundance. “The fact that this is the filmmaker’s feature debut speaks to the arrival of an exciting new talent in documentary.”

The jury also lauded Shyne for her fresh voice and powerful storytelling in “Seeds,” some of the inspiration for which she drew from previous generations of her own family. Shyne had sharecroppers from Mississippi through her mom’s family, as well as a paternal great grandfather in Louisiana who had ownership of land.

In telling the story of “Seeds,” Shyne not only was a creative force behind the documentary, but she also acted as director, sound recording artist and took the lead on cinematography. As production ended, there were only two weeks between postproduction and the documentary’s debut at Sundance, which was held Jan. 23 through Feb. 2 this year.

Shyne also worked with fellow southwest Ohio-based filmmakers Steven Bognar and the late Julia Reichert on their film “American Factory,” which won the Oscar for best documentary in 2020. Now, she adds her own film to her list of achievements, a journey she notes took nearly 10 years.

“I knew these stories would disappear if I didn’t document them,” Shyne said about “Seeds” in a Feb. 17 story posted to the Wright State University Newsroom. “The film was always about preservation and cultural heritage.”

For more information about Brittany Shyne and her work, visit brittanyshyne.com.

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