Cries from the Cotton Field, The True Tale of an Italian American Moses and his Flock
Feature-length documentary saga of Italians who were unscrupulously recruited to work cotton fields in the American South, after the Civil War, and their resilient journey of hope, hardship and faith. Told in first person by their parish priest, using his own words, Father Pietro Bandini, a “Moses-like” figure, who had previously been kicked out of the Jesuits. The Italian enclave Bandini founded still thrives in the community of Tontitown in the Ozark hills of Northwest Arkansas.
Director: Larry Foley, Ed Eaves
Larry Foley is an award winning writer, producer and director of documentary films. Foley is both a professor and practitioner, and has been in some form of broadcasting for 50-years.
Foley is a master storyteller–one of the best. He’s also a teacher and mentor, as professor in the School of Journalism and Strategic Media at the University of Arkansas. He’s been inducted into the Mid America Emmy Silver Circle for a distinguished career invested in teaching, reporting, writing, producing and directing stories, mostly about his home state of Arkansas.