Poet Raven Jackson writes and directs “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt,” the Barry Jenkins-produced Sundance breakout film now distributed by A24.
Oscar winner Jenkins serves as the executive producer of the decades-spanning period piece, which was acquired by A24 at 2023 Sundance. “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt” will also screen during this year’s NYFF Main Slate lineup.
Per the official synopsis, the film is a lyrical, decades-spanning exploration across a woman’s life in Mississippi. Charleen McClure, “Obi-Wan Kenobi” breakout Moses Ingram, Reginald Helms Jr., and Zainab Jah star, with Sheila Atim and Chris Chalk rounding out the cast. The film follows a West African family in the South. Cinematographer Jomo Fray used 35mm film to capture the textured history of Mack, played by McClure.
Jenkins has an eye for up-and-coming talent, with the “Moonlight” director recently producing Charlotte Wells’ debut “Aftersun,” which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor Paul Mescal.
IndieWire’s David Ehrlich praised first-time actress McClure for her weighty performance as lead character Mack, portraying the role from adolescence into her early 30s.
“McClure brings a rich sense of lived history to someone who was clearly written on the wind; Mack is conceived as more of an intergenerational conduit than a dramatic character in her own right, but McClure’s scrim-like smile hints at an ocean of feeling behind her teeth,” Ehrlich wrote.
He added, “There’s no past, present, or future here — only the swirling eddies of history, which churn everything that touches them into a single unbroken tense. When [writer-director] Jackson gets the balance right, those moments don’t just feel as if they could last forever, they feel as if they already do.”
“All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt” premieres in theaters this fall. Check out the trailer below.
