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The death of Michael Brown, shot by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer in 2014, was national news after protests erupted there. But the history of Ferguson, a formerly whites-only “sundown town,” and the neighboring black town of Kinloch, now semi-abandoned, is not well known. Incorporating reflections of residents of Kinloch and Ferguson (including Gillooly, who grew up in Ferguson), this film explores the relationship between these two towns. Beginning with a 1960s roadblock that divided then-white Ferguson from black Kinloch, the film depicts a microhistory of race relations in America.
Where the Pavement Ends, compares a 1968 dispute over a road blockade that separated the then white “sundown” town of Ferguson Missouri from the neighboring black town of Kinloch, with the infamous road where Michael Brown’s dead body lay 46-years later, after being shot by a police officer. The film explores the connections between two locations and two historical moments in time that have been defined by racial strife.
Although the film originates from personal experience it is not a personal film. The filmmakers voice is one among many who carry us through and support the films deeper focus — the link between two historical boiling points. This aural tapestry of voices sheds light on the effect racial divisiveness has had on these neighboring towns.
In 1968 the public dispute was over Suburban Avenue, one of only two roads between the towns. For many years Suburban was blocked off by Ferguson City Aldermen to prevent the black residents of Kinloch from crossing the town line.
Told through a Kinloch lens, Where the Pavement Ends examines the contentious relationship between the towns by revisiting a 1968 protest over the road blockade on Suburban Avenue and comparing that with the events that unfolded on Canfield Drive, the infamous road where Michael Brown’s body laid in the sun for hours in 2014. Where the Pavement Ends, uses “the road” as a metaphor to examine the racial politics that shaped these adjacent towns decades ago and which contributes to the current climate of mistrust that defines the area now. Conceptually, “the road” describes how actual restrictions of movement–a protest march on a forbidden street and a “jaywalking” incident, played a significant role in inciting a shooting and affecting the lives of generations.
Where the Pavement Ends, on its surface is a film about the memory of a place. A chorus of voices, residents of both towns, help us to picture it. The film is a collage of contemporary and archival elements from a variety of published and oral sources (contemporary interview, vintage audio, film, photography, periodicals, FOIA government documents, architectural plans). Long poetic shots of the formerly vibrant town, coupled with voices from the past and the present bring us through an emotional landscape. The memory fragments voiced throughout, build a graphic picture of the charged atmosphere which led to Mike Brown’s death.
Director: JANE GILLOOLY
Produced by JANE GILLOOLY, APARNA AGRAWAL, KHARY SAEED JONES
Written and Edited by JANE GILLOOLY, KHARY SAEED JONES
Cinematographer, KAMAU BILAL
