Your Film Professor

Up and Coming Filmmakers: Royd Anderson

Royd Anderson is an interesting documentary filmmaker. He has directed four films with a distinct focus, tragic events that have largely been erased from history. By choosing this focus, Anderson has done something quite profound, he has created documents that will forever record these tragic events for posterity. But his films work in other important ways as well, as a kind of time capsule, creating a context of the popular culture events, entertainment discourses, political issues, hardships, and the like going on at the time of each tragedy. Via the historical reportage of the specific tragedy he is focusing on, he also explores the human condition element that goes into such a tragedy, survivors of the tragedy, friends and family of those who tragically died in the tragedy, children of those who died in the tragedies, institutional figures (police officers, mayors, ministers, and so on) who intersected with the tragedies in various ways, and witnesses of the tragedies all giving their heartfelt and often tear jerking testimonies. In this way, his work isn’t just a document but a testament to the human spirit, as people endure and move on, inspire us by their courage, sensitivity, and selflessness. Finally, I think Anderson’s films are important because they call attention to the ever necessary need to make the world a safer place, revealing how at least three of these tragedies could have easily been avoided had certain safeguards been put into place, which, in the wake of the tragedies, they were. In these three cases, there were signs that such tragedies could happen, unheeded by regulatory institutions. The result of watching these tragedies unfold is to hope that all of us – though especially figures whose role especially positions them as difference makers – are constantly vigilant for any way to prevent such tragedies from happening.

The Upstairs Lounge Fire (2013)

The charred remains of the Upstairs Lounge

In this film, Anderson focuses on the Upstairs Lounge arson attack, an arson attack on a gay bar in 1973. Thirty-two people died in the tragedy, the worst attack on LGBTQ people until the Orlando nightclub shooting in 2016. Though no one was officially charged with the arson, the main suspect was Rodger Nunez, a gay man who had been thrown out of the bar earlier in the day. No evidence has indicated that the arson was a hate crime (more on this in a moment). Anderson begins his film in a powerful way, a way that creates a haunting metaphor. He visits the Jimani Bar — the site of the tragedy — in the present day but reveals that traces of the horrible 1973 fire still exist, charring marks visible on the brick wall. Such a signifier speaks to how tragedies never entirely disappear, the very fact of their trauma creating an indelible imprint on history. Via vivid (and at times grisly!) testimony, effective diagrams, and photos, Anderson expertly recreates the horrible tragedy, a tragedy that is all the more horrific due to it not being an accident but a purposeful act of terror, not to mention the truly horrific way that the patrons suffered and died. Images of patrons desperately trying to escape through barred windows are especially disturbing, the charred bodies of the patrons testifying to the terrible way they suffered and died. Anderson humanizes this tragedy by interviewing a son of one of the patrons who died in the tragedy, giving us a personal view of the man, making his death more than just an abstract thing, so important in terms of humanizing all of the victims of this tragedy. Anderson’s most horrifying and deeply tragic revelation is how a bartender unintentionally locked patrons from their only escape route, sealing their horrific fate. In an illustration of how Anderson goes beyond the immediate scope of the tragedy, he gives us sad threads that add to the pathos of the incident, such as how three victims were never identified (in many cases the remains were burned beyond any way to identify them) and, as Anderson so poignantly puts it, were “unclaimed, unknown, and unwanted.” Anderson also does something crucial for not just this tragedy but as a way to intersect it with the LGBTQ movement at the time, historicizing this historical tragedy, by signifying the context in which this horrible act of terror took place, when the LGTBQ community was beginning to create a movement of solidarity and empowerment, finding places such as the Upstairs Lounge to come together. In the wake of the calamity, we see how the LGTBQ community comes together to give the victims of this fire their dignity and humanity by memorializing their lives. Intersecting with this positive element of the tragedy is how, as Anderson reports, no one but the St. Mark’s United Methodist Church voiced any sympathy or condolences to the lives lost in this tragedy. Even institutional leaders such as Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards and New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu incredibly didn’t even make a “public announcement expressing sympathy to the victims of the fire.” Perhaps more than anything, this marker of a lack of compassion for the gay men who suffered and died in this fire speaks to the depth of homophobia at the time, where these men’s lives were seen by many as not worth commiserating, a kind of indirect form of “hate” in itself. My one minor regret of this otherwise important film is Anderson not delving just a little deeper into the figure of Rodger Nunez. What kind of hangs in the air in this film and perhaps in the larger historical viewing of this tragedy is that because this fire was probably set by this gay man, that this fact somehow makes it not a hate crime or somehow not as monstrously conceived as it would have been if a heterosexual homophobe had set the fire. However, if Nunez was a self-hating gay man, then that in itself would change the complexion of this act, making his act a much more complicated act than just some angry gay guy acting impulsively (angrily) in the moment. Perhaps some little bit of research into this individual would have added some depth of meaning to his otherwise insane act of arson. Finally, Anderson also importantly notes the changes made in the ensuing years after this fire, fire safety legislation requiring fire safety measures to be put in place for all high rise buildings including sprinkler systems.

Pan AM Flight 759 (2012)

The only section of the plane that was relatively intact; the rest of the plane shattered into pieces.

Anderson focuses his attention on the plane crash of Pan Am Flight 759 for this film, the worst plane crash in Louisiana history. All 145 passengers were killed and eight more people on the ground were killed as well. As can be seen in all of his films, perhaps Anderson’s greatest gift is in getting personal and poignant testimonies from figures who in one way or other were touched by these tragedies. The most powerful moment in the film — and perhaps the most powerful moment in all of Anderson’s films — comes when Anderson interviews a father of one of the children who died on the ground, the father giving vivid and heartbreaking testimony of seeing his daughter’s burned body, her fighting to stay alive despite the severity of her burns. She eventually succumbs to her injuries and we cry with the father for such a heartbreaking loss. In another powerful moment, Anderson interviews a man who had planned on taking Pan Am Flight 759 to Las Vegas but backed out at the last minute, a decision that saves his and his friend’s life, one of those eerie choices that can’t but evoke thoughts on the very thin line between life and death. Early in the film, a witness to the plane coming down in her neighborhood gives a searing testimony of the sounds and images of the plane crashing into her neighborhood, putting us in the moment with her. Anderson intersperses these interviews with a multitude of impactful archived images of the aftermath of the crash and the devastation it wrought. In this way, we can see how Anderson’s instincts are so acute as he not only gives us the facts of the accident but recreates the feeling of the accident via such vivid testimonies and images. Anderson also interviews first responders who witness the devastation and carnage of the crash, graphically and disturbingly testifying to bodies and body parts scattered throughout the wreckage and neighborhood. The trauma of such a experience is powerfully documented by one individual interviewed by Anderson: “I know some people who…still…have…thoughts and dreams about…what they saw there. And some of them say that…they will, they will never get over it and some of [them] claim that it has impacted their lives forever.” With testimonies such as this one documenting the horror of this clean-up, the human story of this tragic event is the most lasting impression Anderson leaves with his film. Anderson documents through images and testimony how a multitude of agencies and people came together in “a spirit of cooperation” and communal support to clean up the wreckage and support the first responders by supplying them with food and water and moral support. Most poignantly, we hear about the “miracle baby,” a baby who miraculously survived due to a mattress falling on her, protecting her from the fire and destruction all around her. In this way, Anderson documents how even amidst the worst tragedies, the human spirit comes through in so many ways, especially in how people come together for such a tragedy and help each other in every way possible, giving us windows into how during the worst of times, it really does bring out the best of humanity. Like he does with all of his work, Anderson also gives us moving testimonies by loved ones of those who were lost in the crash, personalizing them in a way that made them more than just names and images. Anderson also documents how such a tragic event leaves a lasting imprint, people needing to remember and therapeutically discuss their memories of the tragedy, as well as creating photo shrines and a memorial to honor those lost in the crash, keeping the memory of their lives alive in that way as well. Like all of his work, Anderson also importantly registers how such a horrible crash can change procedures, equipment, and safety measures to ensure that such a devastating accident never happens again.

The Continental Grain Elevator Explosion (2007)

The aftermath of the explosion

In this film, Anderson focuses on the Continental Grain Explosion, a devastating grain dust explosion that cost 36 lives. As he does so well, Anderson gets vivid and dramatic testimony from survivors and first responders. In one dramatic case, we hear one man testify about how he and another man rescue two men, and how, just after evacuating the scene, the ceiling caved in “right where they were,” just narrowly escaping injury or death themselves. In another moving testimony, we hear from a wife of a victim of this tragedy, the tragedy falling just three days before Christmas, making the loss of loved ones that much harder to bear. Her testimony is especially wrenching due to her relaying how she had just talked to her husband only moments before the accident and his death, his death then compounded by her having just connected to him moments before. In this way, Anderson creates another vivid portrayal of first responders heroically doing everything in their power to save lives, survivors relating their personal experiences of the horrors of experiencing such a traumatic event, and loved ones of survivors expressing their own trauma of losing loved ones in such a horrific and wrenching way. And here again, Anderson expresses the importance of not letting these victims die in vain, determining how we can learn from these tragic accidents and upgrade structures and safety procedures to ensure they don’t happen again: Though no one was found liable and thus the explosion was deemed a terrible accident, the tragedy changed the design of the grain silos, a change that prevented the build up of grain dust, which can be especially volatile in extreme heat conditions.

The Luling Ferry Disaster (2006)

The capsized ferry

This film focuses on the MV George Prince ferry disaster, the deadliest ferryboat accident in U.S. history. The Luling-Destrehan Ferry, George Prince, was hit by the Norwegian tanker SS Frosta. Seventy-Eight people perished in the accident. As Anderson so effectively does in all of his films, he records the scope of the disaster via dramatic photos, diagrams, and personal testimonies. In one harrowing testimony, we hear from a man who was in his truck at the time the tanker hit; after the collision, his truck went into the water with him still trapped inside. As he dramatically relates, it was only when his windshield “gave way” that he was “shot…like a cannon” out of the truck and to the surface, narrowly escaping death. Many of the other ferry travelers were not so lucky. Anderson also powerfully reveals how loved ones of deceased victims find some small measure of relief via their religious beliefs, again, giving this film and his films in general a much needed personal element. Importantly, Anderson also explores how this tragedy happened, relaying testimony at the time by the tanker captain (the ferry captain died in the accident) and other authority figures. Perhaps the most important finding was that the investigation determined that the ferry captain had been drinking and was just below the legal level of intoxication. Ultimately, it was decided that the main cause of the accident was indeed due to the ferry captain, Captain Egidio Auletta, his “judgement” deemed “deficient.” Crucially, Anderson also registers the lasting impact of this terrible tragedy, e.g., random drug and alcohol testing is required for all captains as well as required after all accidents. After this regulation was implemented, accidents decreased. Further, after this accident, right aways for ships in the river were clarified. This accident also accelerated efforts to build the bridges that would eliminate the need for ferries. Most impressively, after Anderson’s documentary was released, a memorial committee was initiated, resulting in a new and more appropriately placed touching memorial closer to the site of the tragedy. At the ceremony commemorating the monument, Royd Anderson spoke about his dedication to this important project, sticking with it even after his professors (this film was Anderson’s Master’s thesis project) had encouraged him to switch his focus to the devastation incurred by Hurricane Katrina. We can all be thankful for this decision, since, because of it, we got this important film and an affecting memorial.