Down in the Delta

Directed by legendary poet Maya Angelou in her sole feature directorial debut, Down in the Delta is a tender portrait of familial endurance and intergenerational repair. When Loretta Sinclair (Alfre Woodard) finds herself and her children trapped within the compounding pressures of urban disinvestment and substance abuse on Chicago’s South Side, her mother Annie (Mary Alice) intervenes. Pawning a prized heirloom, Annie sends the family down South to reconnect with their roots at their family home in the Mississippi Delta. Supported by her uncle Earl (Al Freeman Jr.), Loretta begins confronting her pain by contributing to a community and rediscovering her footing. Moving past clinical narratives of inner-city struggle, Angelou crafts a deeply human meditation on the enduring sanctuary of the Black family.