The Neutral Ground

Comedian C.J. Hunt tries to answer the question: Why is it so hard to break up with the Confederacy? as he tracks the removal of monuments.

A protestor from the League of the South in front of the Robert E Lee monument in New Orleans
Series
POV
Premiere Date
July 5, 2021
Length
90 minutes
Funding Initiative
Open Call
  • Nominated laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2022 News and Documentary Emmy Awards-Outstanding Historical Documentary
  • Nominated laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2022 duPont Awards-Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award
  • Nominated laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2021 International Documentary Association (IDA)-Best Musical Score
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2021 Tribeca Film Festival-Special Jury Mention for the Albert Maysles Award for Best New Documentary Director
  • Nominated laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2020 Critics Choice Documentary Award-Best Narration
    • Show morefewer awards
    Director/Writer

    CJ Hunt

    Director CJ Hunt is a comedy writer and director living in NYC. He is currently a field producer on The Daily Show. He has been a field producer for BET's The Rundown with Robin Thede and a staff writer for A&E's Black and White, and a cast member on MTV2's Vidiots. A member of the 2018 Firelight Media Documentary Lab, CJ is directing a documentary about the… Show more fight over confederate monuments in New Orleans. He spends his free time hosting The Moth, making faces in the mirror, and writing short films. A graduate from Brown University in Africana Studies, CJ is endlessly fascinated by race and comedy's ability to say what we can't. Show less

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    Producer

    Darcy McKinnon

    Darcy McKinnon produces documentaries; her most recent release is Suzannah Herbert’s Natchez, premiering at Tribeca 2025, scheduled for broadcast on Independent Lens in 2026. Other credits include A King Like Me, Roleplay, Commuted, Algiers, America, Under G-d, Look at Me: XXXTENTACION, and The Neutral Ground.

    Other ITVS Films
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    The Film

    Comedian and filmmaker C.J. Hunt documents the dispute over the removal of four confederate monuments in New Orleans. As residents take sides on whether to remove or defend the so-called Lost Cause monuments, city life is marred by death threats and lawsuits. Expanding his scope, C.J. embarks on a journey across the country to find out what it would take to convince America to end its long romance with the Confederacy.

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