The Quilt at the End of the World is a film about how a community of Black Southern women in rural Alabama transformed the domestic tradition of quilt-making into an instrument for liberation. An ethnographic tapestry, the film stitches together oral testimonies with lush verité imagery to explore the relationship between joy and oppression.

The Quilt at the End of the World follows the story and stories of Gee’s Bend, Alabama. Originally a plantation town, the Benders transformed it into a sanctum of traditional craft. The generation profiled in Quilt bears stories spanning Jim Crow America, the Civil Rights Movement, and the sudden global interest in their lives and craft. The quilters’ resilience tells a story about carving out joy within oppressive power structures, and how that joy creates paths for liberation.

The film is made in partnership with The Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy and generously supported by the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the Southern Documentary Fund.

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Amelia Ray 2025. All Rights Reserved.