“A powerful and heart-wrenching family saga. Beautifully filmed and artfully narrated, Mamie’s journey—her resilience, humor, aspiration, and love warm our hearts, and her courage to return to Mississippi redeems the humanity of a lynched family friend.”

Masumi IzumiDirector, International Institute of American Studies, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan

“Mamie Kirkland’s life was a triumph of the human spirit. So is the movie that her son made about her. Watch it and you’ll fall in love with them both.”

Erik BradyContributing columnist for the Buffalo News

STREAMING NOW EDUCATIONAL LICENSING PUBLIC TELEVISION BROADCASTS

OFFICIALSELECTION-23rdOaklandInternationalFilmFestival-2025

‘100 Years From Mississippi’ is a true story of resilience, forgiveness, memory, and hope.

Mamie Lang Kirkland still remembers the night in 1915 when panic filled her home in Ellisville, Mississippi. Her family was forced to flee in darkness from a growing mob of men determined to lynch her father and his friend. Mamie’s family escaped, but her father’s friend, John Hartfield, did not. He suffered one of the most horrific lynchings of the era.

Mamie vowed to never return to Mississippi – until now. After one hundred years, Mamie’s youngest child, filmmaker, Tarabu Betserai Kirkland, takes his mother back to Ellisville to tell her story, honor those who succumbed to the terror of racial violence, and give testimony to the courage and hope epitomized by many of her generation.

ABOUT THE FILM MAMIE’S STORY

Upcoming Screenings

Check back for our upcoming schedule.

Book your screening and in-person talkback with the writer/director here!

STREAMING NOW EDUCATIONAL LICENSING PUBLIC TELEVISION BROADCASTS

Thank you for supporting Mamie’s true story. This act of resistance reminds the world of what we should never revisit.

Your Tax-deductible donations will support the film’s distribution campaign and ongoing maintenance costs.

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