For just about as long as stories have been told, there has been an effort to preserve our history, whether in the spoken or written traditions of different cultures. Storytelling is nothing more than the act of simply taking words and assembling them to have some meaning, with the emphasis being on conveying something integral to a particular person or population. This particular concept has seemingly been lost through the process of reconfiguring storytelling to be the pursuit of entertainment more than cultural preservation when in reality both apply to an extent. However, we do occasionally find artists who make a concerted effort to reaffirm the importance of telling stories as a way of capturing the past, as is evident in the arrival of Raven Jackson, a fascinating new talent who immediately establishes herself as an essential voice in contemporary cinema with her narrative feature debut, the incredible All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, in which she crafts one of the most poignant and heartwrenching depictions of the human condition we have seen in quite some time. Set around Mississippi at some unclear point in the past, the film follows the life, starting from early childhood to the adult years, of a young black woman growing up in a version of America that is rapidly changing before her eyes. We follow her journey as she experiences these formative years, set against the backdrop of a country undergoing many social and political changes, which gradually start to make their way into her tightly-knit community, impacting her and her family in ways they could never have expected. A beautiful and poetic film about identity, humanity and the importance of realizing that every experience counts towards our growth as individuals, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt is an incredibly beautiful film with a tender soul and a genuine sense of empathy that makes it such a remarkable achievement and establishes Jackson as a filmmaker to watch.

The incredible simplicity of All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt means that we never once have to question what this film means or represents, since even at its most vague, the message at the heart of the film is extremely clear. Jackson had obvious intentions when crafting this film, which was to be a thorough examination of an African-American community navigating personal quandaries alongside social and cultural changes occurring around them, as seen through the eyes of a young girl as she goes from childhood to adolescence, and then enters into adulthood, not quite aware of how to handle the challenges presented to her, but being willing to stay true to her identity and honour the people that helped her on this long and winding journey. The film is primarily a tribute to women of colour, and throughout the film, the director leaps between different periods, showing the various women who played a role in the protagonist’s life. Whether it’s her mother, an immigrant who does her best to raise her child, some other member of her family, or a friend or passing colleague, the character of Mack is defined as being the product of her surroundings, and the woman that populated it over the years. The way Jackson honours these women is incredible, and clearly comes from a place of genuinely wanting to pay tribute to the people who influenced her during her own life, and through embodying the African adage of “it takes a village to raise a child”, she explores the connections formed between these women as they undergo the sometimes challenging experience of making their way through a world that was not designed to be easy for them, but still emerging triumphant, whether due to their steely resolve, unbreakable faith or admirable tenacity, all of which interweave to create this vibrant and complex portrait of femininity and how it is defined and impacted by one’s surroundings in sometimes challenging ways.

It would appear as if Jackson was seeking out other ways to tell this story since there is something about the approach she takes in exploring these ideas that feels much more unique than your traditional coming-of-age narratives. All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt is more aligned with filmmakers like Terrence Malick and Andrei Tarkovsky, who were more focused on capturing a very specific kind of atmosphere in how they wove together fragments in the life of a young protagonist as they come of age. There isn’t much of a linear story present in this film – it is a series of short vignettes that are loosely connected but not necessarily placed in chronological order. There is very little discernible narrative thread that binds them together – we know that they represent different moments in the life of the protagonist, but the context is almost entirely missing, and it takes some work for us to fully understand the scope of the narrative. Yet, through doing this, Jackson makes it extremely clear what she aims to achieve, which is a complete upheaval of the narrative process – she foregoes plot and instead relies on the atmosphere of the film, and works closely with Jomo Fray, whose cinematography is some of the most beautiful of the year, she commits to film some truly unforgettable images, each one a tenderly crafted moment in the life of this character. In many cases, we find that pictures speak more than words, and All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt is a perfect example of how a film can be crafted from primarily images, and still be profoundly moving, despite the scarcity of spoken dialogue or narration that helps us contextualize what we are seeing on screen. What could have been an admirable experiment turns out to be one of the most profoundly moving independent productions of the years, and its simple approach is beyond exceptional, every moment feeling like a major achievement in some way or another.

Considering there was very little spoken dialogue in the film, Jackson needed to cast actors who could use their bodies and faces to tell the story. She certainly found the right candidates, since there are several unforgettable performances embedded throughout All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, which contains an unexpectedly wonderful ensemble. The three actors playing the protagonist at different points in her life (Charleen McClure, Kaylee Nicole Johnson and Zainab Jah) are all wonderful, and bring such sweetness and complexity to a seemingly very simple role, capturing every emotional nuance of this character and elevating her from being a mere cypher to an engaging protagonist, which is quite rare for such a simple, relatively plotless film. The already established Moses Ingram has a memorable supporting part, as does Sheila Atim, who has been working diligently for years on both stage and screen and is now emerging as one of the most fascinating and complex actors of her generation, someone whose intensity and ethereal grace is beautifully captured in every frame that she appears on screen. It is also worth mentioning Jannie Hampton, who has a small but pivotal role as the protagonist’s grandmother – she had not acted previously and is making her film debut quite late in life. Yet, she’s remarkable, and the grit and complexity she brings to a part that could have otherwise been one-dimensional and hardly registered is incredible, and a sign of a truly magnificent discovery from the most unexpected of places. These actors have to emote and bring these characters to life with very little spoken dialogue, and while it may seem slightly slow in some parts, the overall impression that we get after a while is that this is a strikingly beautiful work of art that draws on its ensemble to help develop these complex characters into multidimensional individuals.

Without coming across as overly critical, or making it seem like it is a flaw, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt is a film that requires the viewer to have patience. This is a slow-paced, quiet film that completely disregards traditional narrative structure, instead choosing to replace it was a more subtle, nuanced approach to storytelling, which is primarily done through the images we see on screen more than the words that accompany them. The filmmaking itself is gorgeous, and in addition to being an exceptional storyteller, Jackson proves to have a keen eye for detail, with absolutely every frame of this film being masterful and complex. There’s something so poetic about a film that manages to achieve something so simple yet unique, and while it may take its time to fully unpack most of its ideas, the overall impression we get from it is that All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt is trying to contribute something much deeper to the artistic conversation, a sense of complex human commentary that looks deep into the past and plumbs the emotional depths of history to find answers to questions many ask throughout their lives. It’s beautiful poetic, and challenging in the best way possible. The tenderness Jackson evokes throughout the film, combined with the genuine emotions and heartfelt commentary, all work together to create a striking portrait of the journey from childhood to adulthood, as seen through the eyes of someone witnessing a country changing around her. The most authentic version of history is the one contained in the memories of a child who experienced these changes first-hand – perhaps not factually, but in terms of capturing the emotions and atmosphere of a particular era, which is so gorgeously captured in every frame of this film.