FANZEYEVIEW
FULL MOON LIGHTNIN'
A documentary film by John C. Gardiner
http://www.fullmoonlightnin.com/index.html
A spiritual four year journey through heartache, abandonment and racial divide told through the parallel stories of two blues artists. One seeking to discover what will make him whole again while the other is desperate to hold onto what he already has.
It has been over 60 years since New York City bluesman, Floyd Lee, left the hill country of Mississippi and with his exodus he turned his back on a troubled childhood and a harsh life in the cotton fields. Abandoned by a mother he never knew, Floyd still wrestles with unanswered questions to his mysterious and painful past. Now at the age of 73, Floyd and his band embark on a deeply personal journey back home to Mississippi to reconnect with the family he left behind and search for the family he never knew. Throughout, guitarist Joel Poluck steers Floyd's career towards musical success while his personal life spins out of control.
It has been over 60 years since New York City bluesman, Floyd Lee, left the hill country of Mississippi and with his exodus he turned his back on a troubled childhood and a harsh life in the cotton fields. Abandoned by a mother he never knew, Floyd still wrestles with unanswered questions to his mysterious and painful past. Now at the age of 73, Floyd and his band embark on a deeply personal journey back home to Mississippi to reconnect with the family he left behind and search for the family he never knew. Throughout, guitarist Joel Poluck steers Floyd's career towards musical success while his personal life spins out of control.
fullmoonlightnin’ - behind the scenes
What is Full Moon Lightnin’?
Full Moon Lightnin’ is a critically acclaimed award winning feature length documentary produced and directed by John C. Gardiner. The film is a spiritual four year journey through heartache, abandonment and racial divide told through the parallel stories of two blues artists Floyd Lee and Joel Poluck. One is seeking to discover what will make him whole again while the other is desperate to hold onto what he already has.
It has been over 60 years since New York City blues man, Floyd Lee, left the hill country of Mississippi and with his exodus he turned his back on a troubled childhood and a harsh life in the cotton fields. Abandoned by a mother he never knew, Floyd still wrestles with unanswered questions to his mysterious and painful past. Now at the age of 73, Floyd and his band embark on a deeply personal journey back home to Mississippi to reconnect with the family he left behind and search for the family he never knew. Throughout, guitarist Joel Poluck steers Floyd’s career towards musical success while his personal life spins out of control.
Where did the title of the film Full Moon Lightnin’ come from?
On one of the days we were filming in Mississippi Floyd was telling us a story from his childhood about how he and his cousins used to walk home in the dark. Joel Poluck wondered how they would find their way back home since there were no street lights way out in the country. Floyd told him that they used the light of the moon and lightning bugs. Joel looked puzzled as he had never heard of a lightning bug before. Actually he knew what they were they just called them fireflies back home in Canada. I found it interesting that here we were 60 years later searching for Floyd’s family with hardly any clues to their whereabouts, essentially we were in the dark just as Floyd was so many years ago.
How did you get to know Floyd Lee and Joel Poluck?
I can still remember that September afternoon in New York City, when I first met bluesman Floyd Lee and guitarist Joel Poluck. I stumbled upon them preaching their blues to a city that had been driven to its knees by the recent terrorist attacks. I watched and listened for hours, compelled by the raw beauty and power of the music, as if it were speaking directly to me. It was honest, unique and straight from the heart. The blues may have been born long ago in the cotton fields of Mississippi, but on that day the true embodiment of the music was alive and resonating on a crowded city street. Floyd Lee is an incredibly gifted singer and has an amazing ability to whip a crowd into a frenzy like nothing I had ever seen. I just couldn’t help think there had to be some story behind this bluesman. Why is a guy this good playing at a street fair?? Once they took a break I introduced myself and told them that I had no idea who they were but I wanted to find out more about them. I bought a CD and went straight home to listen to it. I was blown away by the CD and called Floyd Lee a week later to set up a meeting. I don’t think any of us could have ever imagined how that one chance meeting would spark such a profound effect on the rest of our lives.
What are the circumstances that led to the production of this documentary? I wonder if you were already looking for a subject for a possible documentary or it all started after you met Floyd and Joel?
At the time I was still working for a production company based out of Toronto but those projects were at a stand still. I had always been fascinated with the history of the American South during the difficult time of the Great Depression. Black people started pouring out of the south in record numbers never before seen in the history of the world. An entire generation left the farms in the south in search for better opportunities in the industrial north. After my initial meeting with Floyd and Joel we had decided just to start shooting various live street performances, but the purpose was more to get them used to me being around them with a camera. For any production to be successful the characters have to not only be comfortable with a camera following their every move but they also they had to learn to trust me. Most people aren’t going to just open up their entire life story to a complete stranger. If you are lucky you can establish that initial trust. After several month’s of getting to know Floyd he started opening up a bit about his early childhood. I knew that he was originally from Mississippi but I had no idea what his life was like down there and how he eventually landed in New York City. The one thing that struck me was that he told me he was forced to leave Mississippi at the age of 10 and had never been back home. Together we set out to find Floyd Lee’s long lost relatives, but it became clear early on that while we were all traveling down the same road of life we were each looking for something completely different. For Floyd, finding his family meant finding his past. While I could not truly relate to Floyd’s upbringing and the emptiness that weighed heavily on his heart, I certainly could appreciate how important it was for him to retrace his roots. Joel was searching for the strength to hold together a struggling band while living through his own personal nightmare. As for myself, the events of 9-11 made me to reevaluate what we lost that day. I wanted to tell a story that would explore and transcend the rhetoric of loss and longing through their music and their lives.
How did it change through the years?
Well the initial idea was to do a historical documentary which would tell the story of the great mass migration of blacks from the south to the north...in doing so I would use Floyd Lee’s life to help tell that story. After researching a bit more I came across a documentary series which had already told that story. I guess in one respect it was proof of concept but I needed to change the focus to strictly Floyd Lee and his search for his family roots. Since I was self financing this film it gave me the luxury of letting the story breathe. Often times a production is on a tight budget and even tighter deadlines to get it finished and onto the next project. I knew that this was going to be a project which would take time to develop.
Unlike a narrative film there are no scripts when working within the documentary genre. In fact your lucky to get a first take much less a second. In many respects this project was a leap of faith for all of us and at times we questioned the very reason why we even set forth on this journey. Our enthusiasm and optimism soon gave way to frustration and fatigue. But born out of these limitations was the freedom to create; to take chances and at times make mistakes. To tell a story that nobody else could or would.
I find that in many ways the film revolves more on both Floyd’s and Joel’s stories than just the music they make together; do you agree with that and if so was this a specific choice or simply it naturally evolved in this direction?
Yes indeed the story is completely about their lives at that moment in time. The music however provided a beautiful backdrop to the story and offers insights into their lives. The music is essentially the ‘Voice" of the film which reveals the inner struggle of these two characters. This is especially true with Joel. He was living through his personal nightmare and if you listen to the lyrics of his songs he lets you into the deepest part of his heart. The lyrics offer up answers which you could never get in an interview. The one thing I did not want to do was a simple biopic or even worse a film which tried to give the history of the blues. These types of films have been played out a thousand times and there just really isn’t any new ground to cover.
It is evident that what was happening to Joel and Nella’s lives became for the film another story, as strong and even more moving and poignant. How did you decide to include the little home films shot, I guess, by Joel?
During the course of the production Nella had become ill. I decided early on that I was not going to bring this into the story as it was way too personal and I did not feel comfortable exploiting their misery for the sake of this film. I felt that I had an incredible story already and did not need to go down that road. I was almost finished the film and Floyd and Joel were finishing recording their latest album Doctors, Devils and Drugs when I received the terrible news. When Joel returned I told him I wanted to do something special in the credits for Nella so I asked him to bring pictures and any home movies that he might have of her. When I watched the home movies I was so unbelievable moved by what I saw. The footage that Joel shoot during her illness really showed me how incredible their love was for each other. I was so touched by this footage that I asked Joel if he felt comfortable with me using this for the film. His response was "well the entire album is about her" and he then gave me permission to use it. Even if I had followed Joel and Nella around filming during these terrible times it would have never been even close to the personal shared moments that they had together. To be able to view their life through a little window was truly some of the most powerful stuff I have ever seen.
How long did it take to trace some of Floyd relatives in Mississippi and Memphis?
In many respects Floyd has been searching his entire life to find his family. First of all you have to put yourself in that time and place where he was born. There were no birth or death records to aid our search and often times black people were never accounted for in a census. Church records and oral history was going to be our only hope. Floyd was given away by his mother when he was 3 months old. The family he was sent to live with never told Floyd the real identity of his mother. His adopted aunt he grew up with took him to the funeral of his mother where he saw her for the first time. He also met a few brothers and sisters at the funeral but he would then never see them again. So whatever clues we had to work from were hazy at best. We did not know his mother’s last name and Floyd only knew two first names of the brothers. Armed with that we decided to go back to Mississippi to his home town of Lamar to see if we could find out any information. One problem we knew we would face was if there would be anybody still alive that would have any information about the people we were searching for? Our first stop was to try and find the farm he grew up on. We were all completely amazed when we found the farm and some of the buildings were still standing. What a treat it was to see Floyd reflect about his childhood on that hilltop. Through word of mouth we were able to find a cousin he grew up with and she gave us a few names to call. But it was my decision to call all the local churches in the area to see if anybody fit the description of who we were looking for. Incredibly a few months later I received a phone call from a man telling me he knew who I was looking for. I nearly fell off my chair in disbelief. The odds of that happening were really too amazing to even comprehend. In fact before I got that call I thought deep down that their was no way that we would find his family. But I felt that for the movie it really did not matter for it was the search and going home to make peace with a place which provided so many painful memories for Floyd.
In the end Full Moon Lightnin’ follows the parallel realities of two very different individuals. Their journey stretched through heartache, abandonment and racial divide as one seeks to discover what will make him whole again while other is desperate to hold onto what he already has. Together it exposes a world of universal love that reflects all of life’s beauty and joy amidst the broken dreams darkening ours lives. It took five long years to bring this film to the screen, but it was a lifetime in the making.
Copyright 2009 © Willow Tree Pictures. All rights reserved
Full Moon Lightnin’ is a critically acclaimed award winning feature length documentary produced and directed by John C. Gardiner. The film is a spiritual four year journey through heartache, abandonment and racial divide told through the parallel stories of two blues artists Floyd Lee and Joel Poluck. One is seeking to discover what will make him whole again while the other is desperate to hold onto what he already has.
It has been over 60 years since New York City blues man, Floyd Lee, left the hill country of Mississippi and with his exodus he turned his back on a troubled childhood and a harsh life in the cotton fields. Abandoned by a mother he never knew, Floyd still wrestles with unanswered questions to his mysterious and painful past. Now at the age of 73, Floyd and his band embark on a deeply personal journey back home to Mississippi to reconnect with the family he left behind and search for the family he never knew. Throughout, guitarist Joel Poluck steers Floyd’s career towards musical success while his personal life spins out of control.
Where did the title of the film Full Moon Lightnin’ come from?
On one of the days we were filming in Mississippi Floyd was telling us a story from his childhood about how he and his cousins used to walk home in the dark. Joel Poluck wondered how they would find their way back home since there were no street lights way out in the country. Floyd told him that they used the light of the moon and lightning bugs. Joel looked puzzled as he had never heard of a lightning bug before. Actually he knew what they were they just called them fireflies back home in Canada. I found it interesting that here we were 60 years later searching for Floyd’s family with hardly any clues to their whereabouts, essentially we were in the dark just as Floyd was so many years ago.
How did you get to know Floyd Lee and Joel Poluck?
I can still remember that September afternoon in New York City, when I first met bluesman Floyd Lee and guitarist Joel Poluck. I stumbled upon them preaching their blues to a city that had been driven to its knees by the recent terrorist attacks. I watched and listened for hours, compelled by the raw beauty and power of the music, as if it were speaking directly to me. It was honest, unique and straight from the heart. The blues may have been born long ago in the cotton fields of Mississippi, but on that day the true embodiment of the music was alive and resonating on a crowded city street. Floyd Lee is an incredibly gifted singer and has an amazing ability to whip a crowd into a frenzy like nothing I had ever seen. I just couldn’t help think there had to be some story behind this bluesman. Why is a guy this good playing at a street fair?? Once they took a break I introduced myself and told them that I had no idea who they were but I wanted to find out more about them. I bought a CD and went straight home to listen to it. I was blown away by the CD and called Floyd Lee a week later to set up a meeting. I don’t think any of us could have ever imagined how that one chance meeting would spark such a profound effect on the rest of our lives.
What are the circumstances that led to the production of this documentary? I wonder if you were already looking for a subject for a possible documentary or it all started after you met Floyd and Joel?
At the time I was still working for a production company based out of Toronto but those projects were at a stand still. I had always been fascinated with the history of the American South during the difficult time of the Great Depression. Black people started pouring out of the south in record numbers never before seen in the history of the world. An entire generation left the farms in the south in search for better opportunities in the industrial north. After my initial meeting with Floyd and Joel we had decided just to start shooting various live street performances, but the purpose was more to get them used to me being around them with a camera. For any production to be successful the characters have to not only be comfortable with a camera following their every move but they also they had to learn to trust me. Most people aren’t going to just open up their entire life story to a complete stranger. If you are lucky you can establish that initial trust. After several month’s of getting to know Floyd he started opening up a bit about his early childhood. I knew that he was originally from Mississippi but I had no idea what his life was like down there and how he eventually landed in New York City. The one thing that struck me was that he told me he was forced to leave Mississippi at the age of 10 and had never been back home. Together we set out to find Floyd Lee’s long lost relatives, but it became clear early on that while we were all traveling down the same road of life we were each looking for something completely different. For Floyd, finding his family meant finding his past. While I could not truly relate to Floyd’s upbringing and the emptiness that weighed heavily on his heart, I certainly could appreciate how important it was for him to retrace his roots. Joel was searching for the strength to hold together a struggling band while living through his own personal nightmare. As for myself, the events of 9-11 made me to reevaluate what we lost that day. I wanted to tell a story that would explore and transcend the rhetoric of loss and longing through their music and their lives.
How did it change through the years?
Well the initial idea was to do a historical documentary which would tell the story of the great mass migration of blacks from the south to the north...in doing so I would use Floyd Lee’s life to help tell that story. After researching a bit more I came across a documentary series which had already told that story. I guess in one respect it was proof of concept but I needed to change the focus to strictly Floyd Lee and his search for his family roots. Since I was self financing this film it gave me the luxury of letting the story breathe. Often times a production is on a tight budget and even tighter deadlines to get it finished and onto the next project. I knew that this was going to be a project which would take time to develop.
Unlike a narrative film there are no scripts when working within the documentary genre. In fact your lucky to get a first take much less a second. In many respects this project was a leap of faith for all of us and at times we questioned the very reason why we even set forth on this journey. Our enthusiasm and optimism soon gave way to frustration and fatigue. But born out of these limitations was the freedom to create; to take chances and at times make mistakes. To tell a story that nobody else could or would.
I find that in many ways the film revolves more on both Floyd’s and Joel’s stories than just the music they make together; do you agree with that and if so was this a specific choice or simply it naturally evolved in this direction?
Yes indeed the story is completely about their lives at that moment in time. The music however provided a beautiful backdrop to the story and offers insights into their lives. The music is essentially the ‘Voice" of the film which reveals the inner struggle of these two characters. This is especially true with Joel. He was living through his personal nightmare and if you listen to the lyrics of his songs he lets you into the deepest part of his heart. The lyrics offer up answers which you could never get in an interview. The one thing I did not want to do was a simple biopic or even worse a film which tried to give the history of the blues. These types of films have been played out a thousand times and there just really isn’t any new ground to cover.
It is evident that what was happening to Joel and Nella’s lives became for the film another story, as strong and even more moving and poignant. How did you decide to include the little home films shot, I guess, by Joel?
During the course of the production Nella had become ill. I decided early on that I was not going to bring this into the story as it was way too personal and I did not feel comfortable exploiting their misery for the sake of this film. I felt that I had an incredible story already and did not need to go down that road. I was almost finished the film and Floyd and Joel were finishing recording their latest album Doctors, Devils and Drugs when I received the terrible news. When Joel returned I told him I wanted to do something special in the credits for Nella so I asked him to bring pictures and any home movies that he might have of her. When I watched the home movies I was so unbelievable moved by what I saw. The footage that Joel shoot during her illness really showed me how incredible their love was for each other. I was so touched by this footage that I asked Joel if he felt comfortable with me using this for the film. His response was "well the entire album is about her" and he then gave me permission to use it. Even if I had followed Joel and Nella around filming during these terrible times it would have never been even close to the personal shared moments that they had together. To be able to view their life through a little window was truly some of the most powerful stuff I have ever seen.
How long did it take to trace some of Floyd relatives in Mississippi and Memphis?
In many respects Floyd has been searching his entire life to find his family. First of all you have to put yourself in that time and place where he was born. There were no birth or death records to aid our search and often times black people were never accounted for in a census. Church records and oral history was going to be our only hope. Floyd was given away by his mother when he was 3 months old. The family he was sent to live with never told Floyd the real identity of his mother. His adopted aunt he grew up with took him to the funeral of his mother where he saw her for the first time. He also met a few brothers and sisters at the funeral but he would then never see them again. So whatever clues we had to work from were hazy at best. We did not know his mother’s last name and Floyd only knew two first names of the brothers. Armed with that we decided to go back to Mississippi to his home town of Lamar to see if we could find out any information. One problem we knew we would face was if there would be anybody still alive that would have any information about the people we were searching for? Our first stop was to try and find the farm he grew up on. We were all completely amazed when we found the farm and some of the buildings were still standing. What a treat it was to see Floyd reflect about his childhood on that hilltop. Through word of mouth we were able to find a cousin he grew up with and she gave us a few names to call. But it was my decision to call all the local churches in the area to see if anybody fit the description of who we were looking for. Incredibly a few months later I received a phone call from a man telling me he knew who I was looking for. I nearly fell off my chair in disbelief. The odds of that happening were really too amazing to even comprehend. In fact before I got that call I thought deep down that their was no way that we would find his family. But I felt that for the movie it really did not matter for it was the search and going home to make peace with a place which provided so many painful memories for Floyd.
In the end Full Moon Lightnin’ follows the parallel realities of two very different individuals. Their journey stretched through heartache, abandonment and racial divide as one seeks to discover what will make him whole again while other is desperate to hold onto what he already has. Together it exposes a world of universal love that reflects all of life’s beauty and joy amidst the broken dreams darkening ours lives. It took five long years to bring this film to the screen, but it was a lifetime in the making.
Copyright 2009 © Willow Tree Pictures. All rights reserved
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Fanzeyeview's Review
When I heard about John C. Gardiners documentary project, I was hoping for more than just the usual following a musician about on tour just having access to areas that were comfortable to that musician. But this is totally different, this is a warts and all film that leaves you questioning all other films that have gone before it.
I have been a fan of Floyd Lee for some time now and this documentary isn't just about him its about his friend Joel who also has a story to tell. Two totally different people with different backgrounds and upbringing brought together solely by their collective love of the blues.
The documentary follows Floyds quest for his past, especially those he was deprived off sharing time with due to the nature of the family circumstances and the racial discord that was apparent. Also Joels own family situation becomes apparent during the project that slowly creeps up to take over the scene and its affect is shared by all. I won't spoil your viewing by giving anything away, except to say that the blues isn't the sole property of a group of people at a certain place and time in history, it is everywhere in everyone and it doesn't have prejudice.
All through though there is the wonderful blues music that they all share and compose and record together, songs of the past and songs borne out of the difficult present times that they endured.
Any self respecting lover of this genre of music should take the time to watch this marvellous film, it is uplifting and sad at the same time. Your emotions just might get the better of you in understanding why the the blues is the most creative and soul searching music there is.
I have been a fan of Floyd Lee for some time now and this documentary isn't just about him its about his friend Joel who also has a story to tell. Two totally different people with different backgrounds and upbringing brought together solely by their collective love of the blues.
The documentary follows Floyds quest for his past, especially those he was deprived off sharing time with due to the nature of the family circumstances and the racial discord that was apparent. Also Joels own family situation becomes apparent during the project that slowly creeps up to take over the scene and its affect is shared by all. I won't spoil your viewing by giving anything away, except to say that the blues isn't the sole property of a group of people at a certain place and time in history, it is everywhere in everyone and it doesn't have prejudice.
All through though there is the wonderful blues music that they all share and compose and record together, songs of the past and songs borne out of the difficult present times that they endured.
Any self respecting lover of this genre of music should take the time to watch this marvellous film, it is uplifting and sad at the same time. Your emotions just might get the better of you in understanding why the the blues is the most creative and soul searching music there is.
