Maybe Tomorrow

Maybe Tomorrow is a lyrical documentary project centered around my partner’s hometown in western Kentucky that explores the complexity of the meanings assigned to, or assumed of, the region by both its residents and outsiders. As a queer man from the Northeast, I have been viewed with skepticism and curiosity. I’ve discovered that inviting people to sit for a portrait became a point of connection and entry to a world beyond my own that sometimes felt unsafe. Over time I’ve had to grapple with, and resolve, my own personal prejudices. My ideas about this place have grown beyond the initial ones of ruin and poverty, which punctuate the land. The longer I immerse myself in this world, the more I am able to see the intricate relationships that coexist. This complexity manifests as I work beyond notions of regional politics, history, and religion–a complicated convergence which celebrates, defines, and traps a region and its people in unyielding identities, or forces those who don’t fit in to leave. Maybe Tomorrow is ultimately an open narrative about the ways in which place drives who we become and the ways in which we seek to understand the homes we can’t quite leave behind.