The government paid writers to wander America and eavesdrop on survival itself.
In the grip of the Great Depression, unemployed men and women joined an unlikely WPA program to document America in guidebooks and interviews. With the Federal Writers' Project, the government pitted young, untested talents against the problems of everyday Americans. From that experience, some of America's great writers found their own voices, and discovered the Soul of a People. — Spark Media
Writing
Richard Ford's gravel-voiced testimony about finding voice
Production
Depression-era photos that refuse to stay nostalgic
Editing
Seamless braid of archival footage and contemporary reflection
Director
Andrea Kalin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Zora Neale Hurston and Ralph Ellison both worked for the FWP, though the film barely has time to scratch their contributions.
The surviving WPA guides—especially the state-by-state series—are now cult collector's items, some selling for hundreds.
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