Watch Panola (1970) Official Trailer

Panola’s life was a performance. He was always “on the set.” Wino, tree pruner, possible police informant, philosopher, “the most dangerous X that ever was,” “father of eight with one more on the way,” Panola challenged our filmmaking convictions. In no way could we film him independently of the presence of the camera. The conflict between our aesthetic convictions and the reality and authenticity Panola expressed led to few years of confusion, unsuccessful attempts at edits, and ultimately the need to find an outside editor (primarily Michal Goldman).