Georgetown University sold hundreds of enslaved people who worked on their plantations to stave off bankruptcy, scattering families across the South, never to see each other again. With the help of DNA databases, their descendants are reconnecting six generations later. “Finding Us” is a portrait of four descendants who are using their unique talents to regrow the family trees felled nearly two centuries ago.
“Finding Us” is distributed by PBS’s Reel South.
PBS Reel South
The film is distributed by PBS’s Reel South online and broadcast throughout the South.
Georgetown Funds Impact Series
Through its Reconciliation Fund, Georgetown paid for a screening series in Louisiana and for DNA kits to help identify other descendants of the sale.
Regional Recognition
The film played at the region’s top film festivals and was recognized with a Capital Emmy, a jury award from the DC Black Film Festival, and an Impact Docs Award.
- A Film By
- SideXSide Studios
- Director
- Kathryn Carlson
- Producers
- Karran Harper Royal, Gabriel Silverman, Jamie Coughlin Silverman
- Writer
- Deanna Del Ciello
- Editors
- Liza Slutskaya, Kathryn Carlson
- Cinematographers
- Brandy Bruce, Kathryn Carlson
- Additional Cinematography
- Gabriel Silverman, Liza Slutskaya
- Assistant Camera
- Ricardo Betancourt
- Cast
- Karran Harper Royal, Negest Rucker, Jerome Spears, Kevin Porter