Ryan Coogler’s latest blockbuster movie "Sinners" has taken the country by storm. It's been acclaimed by movie critics as one of the best films of the year and has been highly regarded for its accuracy in the portrayal of its setting — Clarksdale, Mississippi.
Residents of Clarksdale, however, can't watch it without leaving town. But thanks to the efforts of Tyler Yarbrough, that will change soon.
Warner Bros. is bringing the film to for a series of special screenings over three nights, from May 29-31, at the Clarksdale Civic Auditorium, according to ‘Sipp Talk Media.
“They've agreed to bring down a projector — like a cinema-grade projector,” Yarbrough said. “They've agreed to build out a screen. I think they're trying to really get people to experience the full, theatrical, cinematic experience as it was intended.”
The event, dubbed Clarksdale Culture Capital, includes a Q&A session with Coogler, cast member Miles Caton and composer Ludwig Göransson following the first screening Thursday morning . Producers with Coogler’s Proximity Media will also be in attendance, including Zinzi Coogler, Sey Ohanian and Serena Göransson. Coogler will also introduce the film before a Thursday evening screening.
“Holding the screening of ‘Sinners’ is more than a moment for our Clarksdale, it’s a movement,” Clarksdale Mayor Chuck Espy said. “It signals that the Delta’s creative power, history, and people are not just worth watching, but investing in.”
All screenings of the film are open and free to the public, with Clarksdale and Coahoma County residents having priority for access to tickets. Aside from the opening screening, ‘Sipp Talk Media said panels featuring Clarksdale residents, historians, artists, cultural workers and musicians will anchor each screening at various venues in town, including the Delta Blues Museum.
Yarbrough wants the weekend to be more than just watching a movie, and hopes it brings a reinvigorated sense of pride to Clarksdale residents.
”There's a groundswell of activity happening in Clarksdale, that’s burbling up from the ancestral soil that is known as the Delta,” he said. “This moment is bigger than myself, bigger than ‘Sinners’, it’s about pride and ownership, and love. We’re bringing that to life, leveraging the premiere of ‘Sinners’ in Clarksdale, but we’re also very interested in keeping the microphone on Clarksdale now and in the future.”
Yarbrough led the charge behind a public campaign to bring the film to the Clarksdale community — which has not had a movie theater for the past 20 years.
It’s a natural extension of his role as the Director of Mississippi Delta Programs at the Partnership for Healthy America, where he leads initiatives like connecting farmers in the Delta with local grocery store owners to work hand-in-hand to strengthen local ownership of food systems while boosting the economy.
But when he is not at work, Yarbrough likes to watch movies. He knew he had to see “Sinners” once it was released, but with no theater nearby, he had to drive 80 miles north to Memphis to find a screening.
Coogler’s film left a lasting impact on Yarbrough. The musical horror film is set in Clarksdale in the early 1930s, and pulls from the small town’s reputation as the birthplace of Blues. The story incorporates multiple elements of the Robert Johnson legend — a Blues musician from the Mississippi Delta who is claimed to have sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads in order to become a successful musician.
Walk around Clarksdale and you’ll see numerous depictions of a Black man playing the guitar in what looks like Hell, with the devil behind him or demons clawing at his feet — a nod to Johnson’s legend. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame states Johnson might have been the first rock star in history. He was just 27 years old at the time of his death.
But “Sinners” doesn’t solely focus on music. Coogler also made sure to tie in Mississippi’s history of sharecropping and Asian American-run grocery stores.That’s where Yarbrough really connected with it.
“There's moments in the film where they're like in a truck picking up one of the sharecroppers. And so I'm thinking about … this is my great-grandmother's life who's still living, breathing,” he said.” “It's important to be transported to that time and place.”
But for many in Clarksdale, it isn’t feasible to go to the lengths that Yarbrough did, said Nicole Ross, a Clarksdale resident, the assistant director of student engagement at nearby Coahoma Community College, and a new mom.
“With the closest movie theater being about two hours away, I would have to make a whole day out of it and find extended child care and all of that,” she said. “I just don't have the time.”
With this in mind, Yarbrough penned an open letter to Coogler and the “Sinners” cast, with hopes of getting them to screen the movie locally, and to attend said screening. A couple of days later, Yabrough said Warner Bros. reached out and began putting a plan together.
“For me, ‘Sinners’ was one of my very first experiences of seeing Mississippi in a full and beautiful light on the big screen,” said Jasmine Williams, ‘Sipp Talk Media founder and one of Clarksdale Culture Capital’s organizers. “I think this film coming home and being made accessible to the people that inspired it is so important, so people here understand our impact on the world.”
This story was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Alabama, WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana and NPR.
