Mossville
When Great Trees Fall
A film by Alexander John Glustrom

One man refuses to be forced off his family’s land as encroaching petrochemical plants threaten to destroy a historic African American community in Louisiana. 

Mossville, Louisiana: A once-thriving community founded by formerly enslaved and free people of colour, and an economically flourishing safe haven for generations of African American families. Today it’s a breeding ground for petrochemical plants and their toxic black clouds. Many residents are forced from their homes, and those that stay suffer from prolonged exposure to contamination and pollution. Amid this chaos and injustice stands one man who refuses to abandon his family’s land – and his community. 

Alexander Glustrom is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who has directed, shot, produced, and edited a wide variety of film projects. His work has ranged from commercial, music, and art videos that have reached hundreds of thousands online, to documentaries that have been featured in film festivals internationally and won more than a dozen awards. He has shot footage that has aired on HBO, CNN, Fusion, NYtimes.com, Great Big Story and Democracy Now. He has also created a number of fundraising videos that have raised tens of thousands of dollars for New Orleans youth programs. Glustrom was awarded "Filmmaker of the Year" at the 2015 New Orleans Millennial Awards and named as one of New Orleans' "40 under 40 brightest and most innovative young people" by Gambit Magazine.