STRANGE FRUIT" SYNOPSIS: WWII. An invading force occupies American cities and towns. As citizens flee before the sweep, a straggling group of survivors retreat into a building. In one desperate night of survival, while soldiers scuttle in the night outside, the distinction between enemy and countryman becomes blurred as dissention breaks out among the residents and neighbor betrays neighbor.
This feature film is currently in the final stages of preproduction. Independently produced by its writer-director Lee Blaylock--a Hattiesburg, MS, resident--"Strange Fruit" will run an hour in length and comprise a cast of twenty, in addition to authentically clothed and armed Nazi reenactors supplied by the curators (see Wephaus.com) of the Armed Forces Museum at Camp Shelby, Glen Husted and Lauren Pursley. Companies and businesses associated with the production are the local production house VIP (Video Image Productions) and Laurel's Eric Roberts Photography, formerly of Eyevox in Jackson.
This is a locally produced film, using local talent and resources for a fully independent and Southern production, with an eventual premiere and screening in Hattiesburg itself. It is the producer's hope that the production will reinvigorate the local film scene and provide a chance for networking and connections between other filmmakers and aspiring filmmakers.
