Posted on: February 17, 2011 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Neshoba county, Mississippi is where the “Mississippi Burning” murders took place back in 1964. For those that are not familiar with the tragedy, a trio of individuals went down to one of the most rural areas in the South, in the hopes that they could go and get a number of African-American voters registered to vote. Rather than allowing that to happen, Edgar Ray Killen and a number of other Ku Klux Klan members decided to brutally murder the three.

Neshoba: Price of Freedom is a documentary that looks into what happened, the social impact of the murders, and the search for justice in the years since the atrocity happened. The film obviously comes down on the side of the martyred three, but it looks to clear the air about a number of the misconceptions that have become prevalent in the years since it happened. Neshoba: Price of Freedom goes into extreme detail about the course of the last forty years using a number of different and compelling documentary tools.

Of course, there are a number of interviews conducted with individuals that were around the area, but the presence of first-hand footage really drives the fact home that three innocent individuals had their lives cut short in the most vile and heinous way ever. I would recommend purchasing this DVD for anyone that has an interest in the Civil Rights Era or any scholar of African-American or modern United States history. The hour and a half runtime of Neshoba: Price of Freedom also ensures that nothing is left out, giving filmmakers Tony Pagano and Micki Dickoff ample opportunity to bust myths and put a light on minutia that would have normally been left to the dustbin of society.

Rating: 9.5/10

Neshoba: Price of Freedom (DVD) / 2011 First Run Features / 87 Minutes / http://www.firstrunfeatures.com

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