The Brownsburg Conversations is a feature-length documentary that digs deep into the heart of a small Virginia community with a rich, complex history of community, faith, and regeneration, offering an intimate and often surprising portrait of a place where tradition and modernity coexist with unexpected harmony in a divisive time.
In this intimate behind-the-scenes moment, community elders Reverend Lucy Jackson-Hughes and Gwendolyn Porterfield reflect on the layered legacy of Brownsburg, where the painful history of slavery meets the warmth of cherished childhood memories, captured as part of a student-led documentary honoring the village's past, present, and future. Their conversation weaves personal truth with collective memory, anchoring the story in lived experience and intergenerational wisdom.
BTS Photos by Jeff Kyle
Marie Coleman & Jeanne Lunsford-Painter, long time Brownsburg residents reminiscing at the old Brownsburg Store
John 'Booper' Bare & Bruce Patterson examine the difference between first generation vs multi-generational farmers in Brownsburg
Historians, Larry Spurgeon and Nancy Sorrells, at Lavelle's Tavern discussing the Brownsburg History
Louis Brown, Edward Carter, Ernest “JR” Rife Jr and Doug Stevenson at the Asbury Church
Rev. Lucy Jackson-Hughes and Gwendolyn Porterfield, with director Nich Perez, go deeper into the history of the Asbury Cemetery, where remains of slaves were buried.
DoP Kiefer Szumlas, capturing some B-Roll at the Verdant Acres farm
With Julie Fox, the Director of the Brownsburg Museum
At the Post Office with Fred Whipple & Bill McGough
A conversation with first generation farmer, John Pedersen
Director, Nich Perez setting up the conversation with Pastors Jim Zimmerman, Lucy Jackson-Hughes and Loren Mitchell at the historic New Providence Presbyterian Church
In conversation with artist and cabin maker, Glen Wilson
The Brownsburg Conversations is an intimate observational documentary that offers a unique and thought-provoking look at a small, rural, unincorporated community in Virginia. This film explores the strength and resilience, the divide, and the struggles of Brownsburg’s community of 50-plus residents. The film shines a light on how its residents, across generations, racial backgrounds, and professions, work together to preserve their shared heritage and promote their future. In a time when the United States faces profound divisions, this documentary aims to highlight the quiet yet powerful ways in which a community can transcend differences, engage in meaningful conversations, and come together in the face of change.
The Brownsburg Conversations will center on the voices of the people who call Brownsburg home, each with their own unique story but all bound by a shared commitment to their community. Through the lives of a local farmer, a bed and breakfast owner, a cheese maker, retirees, and more, the documentary will uncover not only the daily lives of these residents but also the deep and often untold history of the area. From a colonial turnpike to the legacy of slavery, from the enduring role of faith to the ongoing reinvention in a rapidly changing world, the film will examine how Brownsburg’s past continues to shape its present and future. Rather than relying solely on narration, the film will unfold through the candid conversations of its residents, who will discuss their personal histories, collective struggles, and the difficult questions they face about the future of their home. This documentary presents an innovative storytelling approach, focusing on the intimate, unscripted dialogues that occur within the community itself, creating a space where members of all ages and backgrounds can voice their concerns, share their wisdom, and ask deeper questions about their survival.
THE NP COLLECTIVE TEAM