Sapelo

On Sapelo Island, two brothers, JerMarkest and Johnathan, are growing up in the last remaining enclave of the Saltwater Geechee people. Their greatest joy is roaming the wilderness like their adoptive mother, Cornelia Walker Bailey, did as a child. As the island’s elder matriarch and storyteller, she strives to preserve what remains of this unique community established by her African-American ancestors. At the dusk of a long life, Cornelia reflects on the complicated splendor of her youth while struggling to shepherd her sons through theirs. At the dawn of their adolescence, the brothers inherit her hope, but begin to clash with each other and the wider world.