Swannanoan Silt

Swannanoan Silt is a two-channel experimental documentary by filmmakers Isaac King and Tristan Turner examining how communities in WNC cope and rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The film documents Helene’s destruction of Western North Carolina’s landscape. In addition to containing images of destruction, Swannanoan Silt documents the heroic and inspiring relief efforts to rebuild Buncombe County and the surrounding areas. These relief efforts include out-of-state charity, military presence, FEMA camps, and grassroots community organizing. The film was shot on location in towns, including Swannanoa, Asheville, Marshall, Old Fort, and Bat Cave. Unlike the images shown on national news, Swannanoan Silt portrays the aftermath of Hurricane Helene from a personal, boots-on-the-ground perspective. The film not only documents destruction and relief but also approaches these subjects from an abstract, ecological lens. Everyone has seen the images of the millions of tons of displaced mud, felled trees, and building debris, but what about the impact we can't see? Shot on 16mm film and 35mm slides, the images engage directly with the hurricane's invisible ecological impact, as the film was processed in the contaminated Swannanoa and French Broad Rivers. Due to this experimental approach to the photochemical development process, the film emulsion is riddled with unique artifacts, including halation, blistering, and image staining. These weathered images reflect the trauma inflicted upon the community as they have taken on damage borne from their contact with the same water that destroyed the landscape depicted therein. Individual rolls of the film are separated by non-figurative painted film representing the colors of mud and river water in the aftermath of the disaster. The sounds of the projectors are accompanied by live improvised music by our collaborator, Agis Shaw, as he interprets the movements and subject matter found in the relaying images. Ultimately, Swannanoan Silt strives to highlight the perseverance, radical empathy, and dedication to one another in our mountain communities despite such adversity.