ABOUT THE PROJECT

LOGLINE
American expat Kerra Bolton restores her ancestral relationship with the ocean, diving deep into the Atlantic to map sunken slave ships. With a team of Black marine archeologists, she reclaims lost history while rediscovering the strength of her own, Black body—one scarred by traumas that are both recent and centuries-old. But before she can answer this ancestral calling, she must first conquer her fear of open water and learn how to swim.

SYNOPSIS
Black bodies rocking against splintered wood in the hull of a slave ship. Sharks following at a hungry distance. A trail of blood in the water links Africa and the Americas. Haunted by these images, Kerra Bolton, an American expat, looks to her ancestors.

Kerra visits her 100-year-old grandmother, Lula, to atone for abandoning her after the successive deaths of Kerra’s parents and immediate family. Grandma Lula reveals her fear of open water during the conversation.

Sensing that water is the connection of the ancestral trauma of which she envisions, learns about “post traumatic slave disorder,” a specific form of PTSD that affects the descendants of enslaved Africans and manifests in many forms, including fear of swimming and open water.

Through research, expert interviews, and intuition, Kerra concludes the trauma will remain anchored through her body unless she develops a somatic response—processes the trauma through her body. Kerra vows to learn to swim, dive, and map sunken slave ships.

A few months later, Kerra learns that her endometriosis and fibroids have progressed so rapidly that if she does not surgically remove her uterus, she could die. She decides to move forward with the surgery. The procedure denies her the chance of ever bearing biological children.

But she can still breathe life into the world, using the strength of her own body to restore value to those who perished at sea. This will be her legacy—one that looks into the past to make peace with the present. As Kerra muses, “What would that mean for me to be the last of the line, and maybe to go back closer to the first?”

Ultimately, Kerra visits her ancestral homeland. She spreads her grandmother’s ashes there and participates in a ceremony honoring the matrilineal force that transforms pain into purpose, as symbolized by the Black Madonna.

PROJECT TYPE Documentary Feature

DIRECTOR Kerra Bolton
PRODUCER Rachel Pikelny, Kerra Bolton