Trailblazing director returns to Beaufort. Gullah Geechee star again in latest film.

A short film about Gullah Geechee origins — shot by a trailblazing director and world-class crew — was filmed in Beaufort, St. Helena Island and Charleston in 2022, but other than the cast and crew, few people knew it at the time.

“Everybody was sworn to secrecy,” said Ron Tucker, president and CEO of the Beaufort International Film Festival, who served as location manager.

The secret’s out.

“Seeking: Mapping our Gullah Geechee Story” was filmed entirely in South Carolina and primarily in Beaufort and on St. Helena Island.

It debuted June 28 at the International African American Museum in Charleston, the city that once was North America’s largest trans-Atlantic slave trade port. The acclaimed museum, which highlights the history of the African American journey, is the only place where the new film can be seen today, with tickets available at iaamuseum.org.

The museum commissioned the film, which explores the roots of the Gullah people through the eyes of a Black child who sets out to prove his spiritual maturity by embarking on a journey through a sea islands seeking self-reflection and discovery.

“It’s one of those that won’t get a lot of attention like ‘Forest Gump’ or ‘The Big Chill’ because it wasn’t intended to,” said Tucker, referring to Hollywood films that have been shot in the Beaufort area over the years. “It was intended to bring focus to Gullah Geechee culture and its origins.”

The making of “Seeking” marked a return to the Lowcountry for director Julie Dash. Tucker’s Beaufort International Film Festival awarded Dash its Robert Smalls Merit and Achievement Award in 2017 for “Daughters of the Dust,” a 1990 moved filmed on St. Helena Island.

The film, the first by an African American woman to be widely released in theaters, won best cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival. And The National Film Registry placed it in The National Film Registry for preservation.

The subject of that movie — Dash’s first feature film — was Gullah culture of the South Carolina and Georgia sea islands, with the focus on three generations of women in the early 1900s.

“She could have gone anywhere in South Carolina but she wanted to bring it back to Beaufort where her first experience was,” Tucker said. “And we made it happen.”

Some scenes in “Seeking” will be familiar to local residents, based on the trailer, including a prayer house on St. Helena Island and the shores of the Broad River, and the Angel Oak tree on Johns Island near Charleston, the largest live oak tree east of the Mississippi River.

Scenes from “Seeking” were shot at St. Helena Island’s Penn Center and the Chapel of Ease, an old church ruins, in addition to Widgeon Park Preserve along the Broad River off of Highway 170, and Bridges Preparatory School in Beaufort.

The location for one scene showing Spanish conquistadors landing was the base of the bridge on the Lemon Island of the Broad River, which is a popular location today for people to fish.

Native Americans are seen running through the Low Country terrain featuring palmetto trees and live oaks.

Behind the scenes, work occurred at a production office in the former Boys and Girls Club on Boundary Street, Tucker said.

And about 20 kids and adults from the area are in the film as background actors. Rebecca Tucker, Ron’s wife, was the local casting director.

The period film ranges from the 16th century to contemporary times and depicts the story of the Gullah Geechee people and the slave trade that landed them in the Lowcountry, with an emphasis on the religious tradition of “seeking” that dates to the Luba Tribe of West Africa.

The production crew of 75 was brought in from around the world to make the $1 million short film, Tucker said.

The cinematographer was Bradford Young. His credits include: “Selma” and “Solo: A Star Wars Story and Arrival.”

A young actor named Jamir Vega, 15, of the Atlanta area, stars in the film. He recently appeared in “The Wonder Years” and “Teenage Bounty Hunter.”

Larry Yazzie, an accomplished Native American dancer, also figures prominently. The founder of Native Pride Productions Inc. in St. Paul, Yazzie has performed at the Olympics, The Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian Institution.

The main reason for the secrecy when filming was occurring in June 2022 was security, Tucker said. Elaborate costumes were made in the production office in Beaufort, he noted.

“A lot of that was happening right under our noses,” Tucker said. “And these were very expensive costumes being made. It was all done right here.”