Arts & Culture

Scenic Roots

"Scenic Roots" offers conversations that matter in the heart of Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley.From the mountains to the river, our conversations are rooted deep within every corner of our community - reflecting who we are, who we were and who we can become.We engage with the news that affects our community, behind and beyond the headlines. We build bridges that span from creators and innovators to storytellers and the outdoors. We focus on our challenges as many communities in one - as we celebrate what inspires us. We resonate with countless voices - in words and spaces, sounds and songs.We are "Scenic Roots."Ray Bassett hosts and produces "Scenic Roots" at WUTC.

Uncovering The South In The Film “Trees”

WUTC | By Ray Bassett

Published May 11, 2021 at 4:30 PM EDT

Zaire Love is a filmmaker, music maker and writer in Mississippi.

In her short documentary film "Trees," her grandmother Dorothy is the star - and storyteller.

Dorothy grew up in Sledge, Mississippi - in the Delta. Both of her parents were sharecroppers, paid cents for picking hundreds of pounds of cotton a day in the 1950’s. They raised Dorothy and her ten siblings in a one-bedroom home.

Throughout the film, we hear Dorothy’s stories and memories - and we learn how they have shaped her granddaughter Zaire’s work, as a documentarian who highlights and explores the stories of Southern Black women.

Zaire recently graduated from the University of Mississippi in Oxford.

She is now the Southern Foodways filmmaker there - and she’ll be teaching at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture.