Reunion
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EJI | The Colfax Massacre

We partnered with The Equal Justice Initiative to create a film series about the history of slavery and racial injustice in America, featured in the inaugural exhibition of the recently launched Legacy Museum. Working with a global team of artists, producers, activists, and legal advocates, we created six films, each with a different focus and approach to design and animation.

“The Colfax Massacre”, narrated by Wendell Pierce, is one of the films from this series currently on display for public viewing at The Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. View selected clips from the film below.

Correcting the record.

The era of Reconstruction after the Civil War serves as a particularly potent case study in the US’s failed promise to address the issues of systemic racism at the core of the country. And the details of the events leading up to the Colfax massacre in particular are both heartbreaking and eerily similar to events of recent years: A disputed election. A peaceful protest turned violent. An armed, white militia taking matters into their own hands.

“The Colfax Massacre” is a film that seeks to recount these events with a measured balance of authenticity, urgency, and tastefulness. Our goal was to create something that stirs up passions, and can serve as the start of a conversation - one that begins on-screen in the museum and continues at home.

Visual Development.

Visual Development.

The art direction for this film relies heavily on hand-painted images while also tapping into the visual language normally associated with archival materials - photography, newsprint, handwritten letters, and tactile materials.

All of these elements combine to form a unique style - one that is effective at both communicating literally and metaphorically.

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