In February, the UM Media & Documentary Projects Center and the Southern Foodways Alliance began work on a year-long project. The result will be a feature-length documentary film “Southern Food: The Movie.” Joe York, who is directing the film, recently returned from a two-week turn along the Gulf Coast where he filmed contestants at the annual FloraBama Insterstate Mullet Toss, oystermen on Apalachicola Bay, and beekeepers in Wewahitchka, Florida, among others.

While Joe was on the coast, the oil spilling from the failed Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico became a matter of grave concern. He decided to stay for another week and interview people along the Gulf from Florida to Louisiana about the oil spill and its impact on their lives.

In the coming weeks we’ll be sharing some of the footage Joe collected, beginning with a short piece shot at the 61st Annual Blessing of the Fleet in Bayou La Batre, Alabama.