Residents of Virginia’s Tangier Island are used to being in the news.
Reporters from around the globe have often visited to highlight the severe threats that climate change poses to one of the last inhabited islands in the Chesapeake Bay.
Tangier has lost more than two-thirds of its land mass since 1850 because of erosion and rising tides, compounded by sinking land. Scientists predict the town to become unlivable wetlands within a few decades, but residents are fighting to save it.
A new documentary film, “Been Here Stay Here,” showcases Tangier’s unique way of life, which is rooted in faith, steeped in history and centered around the crabbing industry.
The movie premiered in November at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam and recently played to sold-out screenings at film festivals in Annapolis and Washington, D.C.
New York-based filmmaker David Usui said he learned of Tangier in the national news nearly a decade ago.
“It sparked my curiosity enough to just pack a bag and travel down there to see where this place was, who these people were, without the intention of making a movie,” Usui said. “I just wanted to go experience it.”
He fell in love with the island and wanted to share its story with a wider audience.
“Their story has been over-politicized in so many ways,” Usui said. “For me, it was important to kind of extract some of those elements and let their own story come to the surface rather than projecting my own story onto the island.”
He filmed over six years, following three generations of residents: longtime Mayor James “Ooker" Eskridge, 24-year-old Vice Mayor Cameron Evans and 7-year-old Jacob Parks.
The film takes an observer’s approach, capturing life on the island without conducting any interviews. Viewers learn of the erosion issues primarily from watching the subjects be interviewed by other entities, such as a documentary crew from Germany.
Evans said he was initially hesitant to get involved with yet another project, but was impressed with Usui’s long-term commitment to the community.
“I always felt like for a person to capture Tangier at its best, it would have to come from somebody who lives on the island,” Evans said. But Usui “lived here long enough for him to become part of the island himself, in order to gain those trusts, those relationships to capture something quite beautiful.”
Eskridge said it was especially important to demonstrate the role of the Christian church on the island.
Local leaders hope the film will also help boost interest in – and federal and state dollars for — the island’s efforts to survive. They’re pursuing solutions such as seawalls and reusing dredged material to bolster the shoreline.
“We've had other communities around Tangier that have disappeared. They're underwater now,” Eskridge said. “We don't want that to happen here.”
The film team recently signed a distribution deal, meaning “Been Here Stay Here” will eventually be available on major streaming platforms, Usui said.
In the meantime, he hopes to continue showing it at film festivals and community centers, starting in Tangier.
Residents can attend two free screenings on the island on May 10, complete with a 20-foot screen and professional sound.
The film crew is currently raising money to cover the production costs of the hometown screenings.
