Sammy Tedder’s ‘River Obscura’ is terrific
By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor
The Wakulla County Historical Society sponsored a screening of Sammy Tedder’s film “River Obscura – Secrets of a Blackwater River” at the library last week.
The meeting room was packed for the free showing, the film’s hometown premiere.
Some of us had to stand during the film, but it was absolutely worth it.
Tedder, a well-known musician who has scored movies for others, showed himself as terrific filmmaker, editor and storyteller with his documentary about the Sopchoppy River and the animals who call it home.
Through a series of vignettes, Tedder focuses on the stories of some of the animals he encounters –there’s fish, frogs, snakes, an otter, a bear – as the river and its creeks rise and fall with the season.
Who knew a bream bed and the mating rituals of fish could be so fascinating?
And Tedder’s narration gently tells the story as beautiful shots – many of them brilliant underwater shots – let us see what’s happening.
Tedder was at the free screening at the library and said there have suggestions to have his movie shown at the community center and in Sopchoppy.
If you’ve not seen the movie, you should. It’s out on DVD and copies are available at the historical society’s museum, open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
William Snowden is the editor of The Wakulla Sun.
