Saltwata Vibes

Project Details

Saltwata Vibes: Sankofa Seeds from Geechee Roots

IN PRODUCTION – FALL 2023 RELEASE

LOGLINE

Saltwata Vibes is a documentary about Gullah Geechee Afrofuturism. How can those taken from their home take back their future? This real-life journey follows a brother and sister from South Carolina to Sierra Leone set out to understand how to modernize South Carolina Gullah Geechee Culture

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Around the world, African Diasporic communities are able to breathe life into their cultures by creating vehicles to carry the culture forward.  Those powerful vehicles give the younger generations pride, power, and defined identities that are essential to the acceptance, embodiment, and proliferation of their culture.

Many stories from the American south, however, have been trapped in a flat narrative as it pertains to African-American culture. This is especially true for the African descended Gullah Geechee people of South Carolina, where I call home.

Saltwata Vibes gives voice to today’s generation of Gullah Geechee, offering a groundbreaking opportunity to find how culture within a culture is redefined. It is my honor to tell this story.

Sherard Duvall

Executive Producer: Sara Makeba Daise, Simeon Daise, Sherard “Shekeese” Duvall

Director/Producer: Sherard “Shekeese” Duvall

Associate Producer: Ron & Natalie Daise

Creative/Art Director: Jessica Boyd 

Writer/Creative Consultant: Eden Royce

Visual Artist: Cameron Alexander 

Research Team: 

• Doug Peach – ethnomusicologist, PhD candidate (folk & gullah music historian) 
• Dr. Tracey Weldon-Stewart – linguist (gullah/African-American dialects)
• Dr. Jessica Berry – communication (gullah languages)
• Dr. Christine Ofulue – linguist (Nigeria)
• Dr. Birgitta Johnson – ethnomusicologist (West African/African American modern music)