CSA: The Confederate States Of America

What would have happened to the history of North America if the confederacy had won the civil war? This film not only poses that question but is in documentary form, presented as if it IS what happened. Written and directed by Kevin Wilmott and produced by Spike Lee and IFC Films, the film examines the 140 years after a confederate victory using pseudo commentators, rewritten historical references and sensational commercials as well as actual news footage from America’s history books.

In this mocked up documentary, ostenstibly produced by the British Broadcasting Service and suppressed for years, we see the confederate states win a resounding victory. We then see them persuading England and France to come in on the side of the confederacy, we see Abraham Lincoln labelled an abolitionist, America attacking Japan rather than the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the Americans building a ‘cotton curtain’ (a nod to the Berlin Wall) between themselves and Canada, the confederate states supporting Hitler’s Arian beliefs, South Africa supplying slaves to the US and slavery continuing to hold sway in America to the present day.

It is commonly supposed that the Civil War in America was fought over slavery/emancipation but that is not strictly true. It was really over trade issues. Now, if we take the premise that it was fought over slavery, then history could have been rewritten as it is here. So whilst I think the premise ingenious and the way that the film is put together skilful and unsettling and more than just a little distasteful, with its clever peppering of mock (and racist) commercials throughout, there is sometimes too much manipulation of history to make for an entirely satisfactory conclusion. But by exploring both history and the present from an alternative point of view, things that we simply ignore, don’t notice or take for granted are brought home to us with stark clarity.

The viewer will squirm a great deal whilst watching this film because it IS uncomfortable viewing, challenging as it does, every preconception we may have about how racist or otherwise we are. But it also blurs the truth and that is uncomfortable too. The piece in which a South African leader supports the CSA by sending them slaves is ugly and brutal BUT the western world was not alone in exploiting the African, Africans DID round up fellow Africans and sell them into slavery and that is an unpalatable truth.

Ranging from the blackest and most non-PC humour to the satirical, the commercials, which would normally allow time for quick relief, merely invite further controversy with adverts for Darky Toothpaste for a smile that’s jigaboo bright and Coon Chicken, which replaces KFC.

This film is not for the faint-hearted and its flaws lie in overplaying its hand but it is a film everyone should watch because it requires us to face some unpalatable truths about history and ourselves. It is deeply uncomfortable viewing but it places in stark relief many problems still facing the world today, which are quietly swept under the carpet. The chilling matter of fact ‘logic’ of the Southern mind could pass for any extremist group at work in the world today. The last riposte says it all. Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben are still used today and accepted without question as part of our world, yet they are both names taken from the world of slavery.

There are moments when this is clearly an independent film. The camerawork is sometimes a little amateurish and the acting is good but no more than that. Nevertheless, I am giving this film five stars for the sheer audacity of the premise and its skilful execution – whether or not you agree with the filmmakers’ vision, you will leave this film more educated than you were when you started watching. If you want to see a movie that makes you think, and encourages healthy debate, then this film is it.