Family Name . Newcity Chicago . 05-11-98

Family Name

DIRECTED BY: Macky Alston

REVIEWED: 05-11-98

Macky Alston's documentary follows a similar route as Edward Ball's recent exploration, "Slaves in the Family" (Farrar Straus). A Southerner, growing up, hears distant tales of a slave-owning past, and once grown, wants to know the truth. Alston's is the more compelling work, with the 31-year-old filmmaker traveling from Durham, North Carolina, where he was born, across New York and Alabama, seeking out African-Americans who share his family name. Alston also comes out as gay during the course of the film, a secret that his family had asked him not to share with anyone else back home. The material is so rich you'd swear Alston made it up, but it's compelling for that very reason: a good answer always prompts another question, then another. 89m.

--Ray Pride

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