Humorous, poignant, probing and suspenseful, Moving Midway follows a real-life family commotion that swirls around one of America’s most contested and controversial icons: the Southern plantation.

New York film critic-turned-filmmaker Godfrey Cheshire returns home to North Carolina and finds that his cousin Charlie Silver proposes to uproot and relocate the family ancestral home – Midway Plantation – to escape urban sprawl. Cheshire also comes across history professor Robert Hinton, who reveals that his grandfather was born a slave at Midway.

As Cheshire and Hinton explore the plantation mythology embodied in our cultural history – from Uncle Tom’s Cabin to Gone with the Wind to Roots – Charlie meanwhile follows through on the Herculean feat of hoisting Midway several miles across a forbidding landscape.

But this event’s drama leads to an even more startling surprise: the discovery of 100 African- American cousins that Cheshire and Silver never suspected, potent proof of America’s long buried but increasingly important status as a mixed-race society.

"Brilliantly fuses criticism and storytelling... Thrilling!" - David Edelstein, New York Magazine

"Enthralling! A roaring good time." - Ella Taylor, LA Weekly

"Tenderhearted, tough-minded, witty and wise, Midway is moving indeed."
- Nathan Lee, The Village Voice

"A-! Thoughtful, graceful, compassionate." - Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

"An illuminating look at the history of the plantation and the endless secrets of the South's gothic past." -Oprah's O at Home Magazine

"A-! Cheshire demonstrates how popular mythology works its way into our private imaginations." - Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

"A fascinating story…boasts some quirky comic moments, but it's most notable for furthering the all-too-serious discussion of the South's racial legacy." - Mark Jenkins, NPR

Runner-up Best Documentary of 2008- New York Magazine
Second Best Non-Fiction Film of 2008- Andrew Sarris, The New York Observer
One of the Top Ten Movies of 2008- Ella Taylor, LA Weekly
Honorable Mention, Best Documentary of 2008- Kam Williams, Sly Fox
Honorable Mention, Best Film of 2008- Eugene Hernandez, indieWIRE
Best First Feature of 2008- Daryl Chin, indieWIRE's Critics’ Poll

The Tar Heel State: A History of North Carolina by Milton Ready

A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina by Catherine Bishir and Michael Southern

www.movingmidway.com

www.midwayplantation.com