In the cynical studio world of entertainment over art at all times, it’s nice sometimes to see pure unadulterated art. All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt is a poem in movie form, beautifully traversing Mississippi and Louisiana. It’s an exciting breakthrough for director Raven Jackson, who made something extremely impressive at such a young age. That’s So Raven, I guess.
Jackson’s story loosely follows a black girl, Mack (Charleen McLure as an adult, Kaylee Nicole Johnson as a child). We go back and forth in time through her life, as Mack gets to experience a lot: first fun with her friend Josie (Moses Ingram as an adult, Jayah Henry as a child), first fishing through her parents (Shiela Atim and Chris Chalk), and first love through Wood (Reginald Helms Jr. as an adult, Preston McDowell as a child), as well as some lasts two, in a remote part of the world most American moviegoers rarely see outside of a Civil Rights story.
It’s amazing how much Raven Jackson can say without people speaking. Her visual palate is splendid, crafting incredible images meant to elicit all sorts of feelings. One scene at a party left me near blissful joy, another scene of a house awed silence, an early morning pure serenity, and yet another hug of quiet melancholy. In a place where few words are said, Jackson shows the real dialogue happens with people’s hands. There are many shots where the hands are telling more of a story than the people in the scene, giving us an idea of how people choose to communicate in this new place. Jackson’s choice to tell a non linear story fits too: she fashions a place that feels out of time entirely, never ending and never beginning. Just…existing. By its end, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt feels like Raven Jackson’s version of a Mississippi Terence Malick movie, completely choosing to show instead of tell everyone what’s going on.
And that’s it. Raven Jackson gives us so much through something so simple. It almost made me want to spend a weekend in Mississippi, no easy feat for a city dweller like me. But I know the minute I feel that heat I’m gonna want to be out, ASAP.