We recently had the pleasure to chat with filmmaker Hamilton Ward about his 2016 Indie Grits selected film, Miss Addie Johns, Brewton AL.

1. What is your connection to the South?

I was born and raised in Birmingham before moving to Pennsylvania. I moved back to the South to be close to all of my family and to re-discover my roots.

2. What was your muse for this film?

My father and the stories he told me about growing up in Brewton Alabama. There’s mystery down here, the stories seem to be more alive and have a personality all their own. I wanted to try and capture that with film.

3. What was your first film?

Miss Addie Johns – Brewton, AL is my first film.

4. Did anything interesting or funny happen on set during the shooting?

The film is made using 8mm footage and burning it, so I was doing this inside one night and my girlfriend made a comment about how it smelled like burnt cheese and these puffs of smoke started to come out of the projector just as we started to feel a little dizzy.
I realized then that it was probably better/safer to be burning this film outdoors.

5. If you’ve been to Indie Grits before, what’s your favorite memory?

This will be my first time at Indie Grits and I’m extremely excited about it!