"She’s very serious about her dance and she’s extraordinarily beautiful. That’s what I wanted the film to be."
- Bill Morrison

"Disaster has an uncanny relationship with Bill Morrison; it’s practically the basis for each of his films. Over the past two decades, he has expanded the language of found-footage filmmaking. His work turns degraded nitrate stock culled from film archives into lyrical meditations on storytelling and the entropic nature of existence. Out of the cinematic ruins, he salvages art."

- Steve Dollar
Washington Post, 5/2/14

"Destined for a long life in museums and history classes alike, this is cinema as art, and a classic."

- Chuck Wilson
LA Weekly, 1/8/14

Film by Bill Morrison
Music by Bill Frisell
Produced by Phyllis Oyama

2013, 78 min, HD

The Mississippi River Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in American history. In the spring of 1927, the river broke out of its banks in 145 places and inundated 27,000 square miles to a depth of up to 30 feet.

Part of it enduring legacy was the mass exodus of displaced sharecroppers. Musically, the “Great Migration” of rural southern blacks to Northern cities saw the Delta Blues electrified and reinterpreted as the Chicago Blues, Rhythm and Blues, and Rock and Roll.

Using minimal text and no spoken dialog, filmmaker Bill Morrison and composer / guitarist Bill Frisell have created a powerful portrait of a seminal moment in American history through a collection of silent images matched to a searing original soundtrack.

Performed by
Bill Frisell, Guitar
Ron Miles, Trumpet
Tony Scherr, Bass, Guitar
Kenny Wollesen, Drums, Vibes

WYNC Soundcheck segment with host John Schaefer, discussing "The Great Flood", Bill Frisell, and Flood music with director Bill Morrison