Southern Documentary Project

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Southern Documentary Project SouthDocs is an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. We teach the next generation of storytellers.

MA-Documentary Track
MFA-Documentary Expression

Meet Samson Oklobia! Samson is a storyteller with a background in filmmaking and television production. A graduate of Ma...
10/20/2026

Meet Samson Oklobia! Samson is a storyteller with a background in filmmaking and television production. A graduate of Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Jos, he got his training as a cinematographer and High-Def Filmmaker from PEFTI Film Institute, Lagos and New York Film Academy, Abu Dhabi.

As a student at the University of Jos, he was introduced to Theatre Arts as part of the curriculum, and he continued even after his undergrad studies, acting in different stage performances and even producing a few as well. He was a stage actor, with Jos Repertory Theatre, PAWS Studio and Theatre Emissary International, participating in numerous local and international theatre festivals. He also produced and directed an independent theatre production in Nigeria called Back to the Future.

In his spare time, he loves to teach filmmaking and video editing, with some of his students going ahead to make a career for themselves as freelance videographers and editors.

He is also a Non-resident Research Associate at the Centre for Socially Engaged Theatre (C-SET), Canada. His long-term goal is to teach in the classroom the experiences he has gathered over his years of practice.

Oklobia is a first-year MFA candidate in Documentary Expression with SouthDocs and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi.

Learn more about our graduate students’ work at https://southdocs.org.

10/15/2026

Congratulations John Rash & Melanie Ho!!!

The "Religion” issue of Southern Cultures features six photographs from artists that offer a “Snapshot” look at their ex...
10/15/2026

The "Religion” issue of Southern Cultures features six photographs from artists that offer a “Snapshot” look at their experiences of religion in the South. Congrats to Melanie and everyone whose wonderful work was showcased in this issue!

Join us Monday, Nov. 2 at 5:30 pm for a screening of “Natchez” + Q&A with filmmaker Suzannah Herbert! The event will be ...
10/01/2026

Join us Monday, Nov. 2 at 5:30 pm for a screening of “Natchez” + Q&A with filmmaker Suzannah Herbert! The event will be held in the Overby Center in Farley Hall at the The University of Mississippi - Ole Miss.

NATCHEZ captures an unsettling clash between history and memory in a small Mississippi town; a layered mosaic of people contending with the weight of the past in a place where it is always present.

Equal parts amusing and disturbing, we journey through an antebellum tourist destination at a crossroads as it grapples with a deeply troubled history that is so thoroughly ingrained in its present, we’re left to wonder if it’s actually past at all.

Suzannah Herbert makes films about the American South. Herbert’s directorial debut WRESTLE was nominated for two News & Documentary Emmys and named one of the top 5 documentaries of 2019 by the National Board of Review.

Herbert’s sophomore feature, NATCHEZ, was awarded Best Documentary at the 2025 Tribeca Festival, honored with 19 awards on the festival circuit, released theatrically in over 80 cities, and broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens in 2026. (Independent Lens | PBS)

This event is free and open to the public! We hope to see y’all there!

SouthTalks is produced by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. This series of events, including lectures, performances, film screenings, and discussions, explores the interdisciplinary nature of Southern Studies.

Find the full schedule at olemiss.edu/southernstudies/events and watch past events on the Center’s YouTube page.

The Visiting Documentarian Series is made possible in part by the Berkley Hudson Visiting Documentarian Fund.

Meet Alexandra Brown! Brown’s work focuses on foodways, migration, and community-based storytelling. Originally from San...
09/30/2026

Meet Alexandra Brown! Brown’s work focuses on foodways, migration, and community-based storytelling. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, and now based in Mississippi, she brings a background as a chef and former restaurant owner to her research and creative practice.

Brown previously served as Director of Food and Sustainability at Magnolia Montessori School, where she developed programs connecting children to locally grown food. Her work is grounded in the belief that food is a powerful medium for understanding place, culture, and care.

Through documentary film, photography, and oral history, Brown explores how everyday practices around food shape identity, connection, and belonging in the American South.

Brown is a first-year MFA candidate with SouthDocs and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi.

Learn more about our graduate students’ work at https://southdocs.org.

Meet Elliott Burgess! Elliott is a first-year MFA student in Documentary Expression at the University of Mississippi. He...
09/28/2026

Meet Elliott Burgess! Elliott is a first-year MFA student in Documentary Expression at the University of Mississippi. He holds an MA in English from the University of Memphis, as well as an MBA and a BBA from Freed-Hardeman University.

Drawing on his time living in the Czech Republic and teaching English language learners from across the globe, he approaches the American South with a global perspective.

Sharing a hometown with educator and activist Myles Horton, Elliott is interested in the lack of public memory surrounding Horton in Savannah, Tennessee. His work also documents issues of place, cultural identity, and community-building.

Learn more about our graduate students’ work at https://southdocs.org.

Meet Javon Huynh! Javon is an early-career documentary filmmaker and journalist whose work explores Black and Vietnamese...
09/24/2026

Meet Javon Huynh! Javon is an early-career documentary filmmaker and journalist whose work explores Black and Vietnamese identity, migration, family history, and the ways race and culture shape people’s sense of place and belonging in the American South.

As a Black and Vietnamese American, he brings a personal perspective to these intersections, examining how people navigate identities shaped by multiple cultures, histories, and experiences of place.

Huynh began his career in CNN’s prestigious News Associate Program and was later named an Ed Bradley Journalism Fellow at NYU. He was also selected for the Television Academy Foundation’s Summer Internship Program and recognized as one of 10 Bob Bennett Future Leaders. Most recently, he was selected as a News26 fellow with the Society of Professional Journalists.

He earned a master’s degree in Video Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is currently a first-year MFA student in Documentary Expression with SouthDocs and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi.

Learn more about our graduate students’ work at https://southdocs.org.

Meet Annie Jicka! Annie is an aspiring documentary filmmaker and artist from Jackson, Mississippi. She received a Bachel...
09/22/2026

Meet Annie Jicka! Annie is an aspiring documentary filmmaker and artist from Jackson, Mississippi. She received a Bachelors in Creative Media from the University of Alabama and is now pursuing a MFA in documentary expression with SouthDocs and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi.

Her works have been featured at the Rising Tide Film Festival and Above the Line Film Festival.

Jicka is drawn to the hidden pockets of the South. Raised in Mississippi and educated in Alabama, she’s seen how this diverse region is often misunderstood by outside perspectives. Hope is at the core of her projects, and Annie wants audiences to feel that even when addressing more serious topics.

Learn more about our graduate students’ work at https://southdocs.org.

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Oxford, MS

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+16629155917

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