FREE SCREENING and DISCUSSION: New Film ‘Bloodlines of the Slave Trade’ Has Deep Alexandria Ties
Alexandria Film Festival Presents Special Screening of In Honor of Black History Month
ALEXANDRIA, VA – In honor of Black History Month, the Alexandria Film Festival will present Bloodlines of the Slave Trade, a documentary that examines the lives of two people whose only connection is a genetic link to two notorious Alexandria-based slave traders of the 1830s.
Rodney (who is Black) and Susanna (who is white) have very different lived experiences as their slave-trading ancestors continue to impact their lives. Susanna’s grandfather was named for Issac Franklin and John Armfield, the largest traders of enslaved African Americans in the nation between 1828 and 1836, and Rodney is a descendant of John Armfield.
The Freedom House Museum in Old Town, the original headquarters of the Armfield Franklin slave trading company, traces the history of human trafficking in Alexandria and the South. “While we celebrate Black History this month,” said Alexandria Film Festival Chair Dara Sanders, “this film is every bit as much about Alexandria’s history, and how we negotiate the legacy of our beloved city.”
Audrey Davis, executive director of the Alexandria Black History Museum is featured in the film and will participate in a Q&A panel following the film screening, along with film subjects Susanna Grannis and Melanie Pflaum.
WHERE: The Alexandria History Museum at The Lyceum, 201 S. Washington Street, Alexandria, VA.
WHEN: Feb. 25; doors open at 6:00 pm; film at 6:30 pm. Tickets ($15) available at Eventive.com and at the door.
