CSA: The Confederate States of America (2005)
72%RT Audience Score: 56%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win & 2 nominations
Through the eyes of a British “documentary”, this film takes a satirically humorous, and sometimes frightening, look at the history of an America where the South won the Civil War
If you’re looking for a movie that will make you laugh and cry at the same time, then C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America is the one for you. This mock documentary takes a look at what America would be like if the Confederacy had won the Civil War, and it’s both shocking and hilarious. The film uses contemporary pop culture to show how slavery could still exist in modern times, and it’s a clever commentary on race relations in America. While some critics found the satire to be strained, I thought it was spot-on and had me hanging on every word. Overall, C.S.A. is a must-see for anyone who loves thought-provoking films that are both entertaining and educational.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Lawrence, Kansas, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for strong thematic material involving racial issues, language and disturbing images
Year of Release
2005
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.33 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Aug 8, 2006
Genre(s)
Comedy/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Rupert Pate, Evamarii Johnson, Larry Peterson, Charles Frank, Greg Hurd, Ryan L Carroll, directed by Kevin Willmott, written by Kevin Willmott, comedy, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Richard Brody, Geoff Pevere, Rick Groen, Marc Savlov, Roger Moore, Ann Hornaday, Betsy Sherman, Fernando F Croce, Dennis Schwartz, Anton Bitel, Doris Toumarkine, producer Rick Cowan, Sean Blake, Victoria Goetz, Matt Jacobson, Benjamin Meade, PG-13, racial issues, language, disturbing images, strong thematic material, slavery, racism, alternate history, mockumentary, British documentary, historians, politicians, Canada, Confederate States of America, American Civil War, slavery, racism, satire, social commentary
Worldwide gross: $744,165
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,134,095
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,566
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 123,674
US/Canada gross: $672,156
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,024,355
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,188
US/Canada opening weekend: $5,706
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $8,696
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,731
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Evamarii Johnson – Patricia Johnson
Larry Peterson – John Ambrose Fauntroy V
Charles Frank – British Narrator
Greg Hurd – Mr. Johnson
Ryan L. Carroll – Bobby
Director(s)
Kevin Willmott
Writer(s)
Kevin Willmott
Producer(s)
Rick Cowan, Sean Blake, Victoria Goetz, Matt Jacobson, Benjamin Meade
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 2 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (65) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (52) | Rotten (13)
“C.S.A.” tells a counter-story of how slavery survives to the present day-and it uses traces of contemporary pop culture to show that the notion isn’t really even such a stretch.
February 16, 2017
Richard Brody
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
By slyly nudging both history and the language of television, this mock documentary about an America won by the Confederacy … manages to be both shocking and strangely banal in equal measure.
June 16, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
Geoff Pevere
Toronto Star
TOP CRITIC
The satire comes to feel strained and the whole premise gets awfully precious, reducing social subtleties to cinematic simplicities.
June 16, 2006 | Rating: 2/4
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
There are droll comic flourishes in this very brave film, to be sure, but all you really want to do after watching CSA is hang down your head and cry.
May 6, 2006 | Rating: 2.5/5
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
A sometimes incisive, sometimes amateurish look at race in America, the things we do and tolerate as a nation that are really no different from an America ruled by unrepentant slave-holders.
April 7, 2006 | Rating: 3/5
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
TOP CRITIC
A piece of well-crafted righteous indignation.
March 30, 2006
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
[CSA is] an extraordinary new mock-u-mentary.
August 9, 2017
Betsy Sherman
Arts Fuse
Brimming with daring concepts though only sporadically united into a lacerating whole
August 30, 2009
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion
It’s a film beaming with fertile ideas.
January 31, 2008 | Rating: B-
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
a satirist’s distorted reflection of today’s globe-mastering US, as presided over by a god-fearing Southerner with imperialist tendencies and a penchant for warmongering.
July 3, 2007 | Rating: 3/5
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film
Unrelenting in its cleverness but repetitive in hammering home this message of shameful black oppression.
March 1, 2007
Doris Toumarkine
Film Journal International
If you’ve ever wondered what the course America history might have taken if the south had won the Civil War, you might like to check out this infinitely creative, alternately sobering and humorous look at America’s lingering legacy of racism.
January 17, 2007 | Rating: 4/4
Kam Williams
EURWeb…
Plot
Set in an contemporary alternative world where the Confederate States of America managed to win the American Civil War, a British film documentary examines the history of this nation. Beginning with its conquest of the northern states, the film covers the history of this state where racial enslavement became triumphant and the nation carried sinister designs of conquest. Interspersed throughout are various TV commercials of products of a virulent racist nature as well as public service announcements promoting this tyranny. Only at the end do you learn that there is less wholly imagined material in the film than you might suspect.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no specific tidbit about the cast mentioned in the Fresh Kernels summary.
Kevin-Willmott.jpg
