'Sweet Freedom': Filming for Polly Johnson movie starts in New Bedford area

NEW BEDFORD — This week local filmmaker Alyssa Botelho, a native of Fairhaven, is filming all over the SouthCoast for her independent short film, "Sweet Freedom,” focusing on the story of Mary Polly Johnson.

“When you search ‘New Bedford historical figures’ you get like Herman Melville, Frederick Douglass and William Rotch Jr, but never Mary "Polly" Johnson,” Bothelo said.

“And I kept asking, why isn’t she a household name?”

Botelho said "Sweet Freedom," set in 1839 New Bedford, focuses on the life of Black abolitionist Mary Polly Johnson. Written and directed by Botelho, the film explores Johnson’s entrepreneurial journey, family life and her involvement in the Underground Railroad.

Figuring out the best 'Polly Johnson' story to tell

“She was a real trailblazer,” Botelho said. “Absolutely out of this world, like her own business from the ground up… she ended up owning her property. There's just so many aspects of her that you did not find a lot of women like her in the 1800s.”

Botelho said so much to Johnson’s story and everything happening around her was difficult to figure out as well as picking what would be best to put in a short film. She worked with both Jan da Silvia from the New Bedford Whaling National Park and Lee Blake, president of the New Bedford Historical Society.

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“We settled on a plotline; a true story of a family that she was housing. She was a concubine with a slave master, and the slave master sent a family to her with a job to be educated. And then he dies and nobody knows that they're slaves or if they're free,” she said, adding she received the blessing from Polly’s descendants of the Pocasset Wampanoag tribe.

“Then there's letters piling in from his business associates, pressuring Johnson to send the family back down South.”

Filming a period-piece all over the South Coast area

Filming Nov. 9-13, at various locations around New Bedford, Freetown, Marion, and South Dartmouth, the film features an array of period scenes from horse and stagecoach chases to mansion parties. The director of photography is Sean Campbell with Carley Byers, Lionel R Jeffries and Ted Omo producing.

“I’m definitely very 'go big or go home,'” Botelho said, as she prepared for her biggest film set to date.

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Botelho said she discovered her passion for filmmaking during her freshman year of high school in Fairhaven. She honed her screenwriting and directorial skills at the University of Rhode Island, obtaining Film/Media and Business Management degrees.

The last historical fiction short she wrote and directed was a period piece set in 18th century Salem titled “To Dust All Return,” which won Best Short Fiction and Best Directing at the National Academy Television Arts & Sciences New England Universities Chapter — often referred to as “Student Emmys.”

She has also directed and written the short films “Junkie,” “Seacrets,” “The Things We Leave Behind,” “Santa’s Bell,” and four installations of “Hometown Haunts” about ghost stories in the Fairhaven area.

Polly Johnson will be played by Brandice Peltier who recently performed the one woman show “Queen Bess, The Bessie Coleman Story,” as well as appeared in “Think Like a Killer” on the ID Channel.

"I am so excited to have the pleasure of playing Polly Johnson and to be able to tell a small piece of her incredible story. I am inspired by her love for her people and her determination to help provide a safe place for them. I hope, that with this film, we are able to provide a safe place for her legacy to reside,” Peltier said on a post about the film.

The cast also stars Kayla Garabedian was cast as Patty, Mark Bracich as Ridgell, Precious Osarenkhoe as Betsey Gibson as well as cast members Aria Jamilla, Paul Kandarian, Peter Mendes and Mamadou Toure as Frederick Douglas.

"I’m figuring out mostly how to play with certain words and delivery and things like that with the cast,” Botelho said.

Asking for community support on their crowdfunding page

The short film is also still raising funds on IndieGoGo, a crowdsourcing website. All the information about the film is on the fundraising page as well as asking people to help support the film financially. As of Nov. 9, the page had raised $2,100 out of its $10,000 goal.

“Even the smallest donation will make a monumental difference,” she said, adding that she teamed up with the 501(c)(3) nonprofit, The Shepherd Center for the Performing Arts, ensuring that your contributions are tax-deductible.

As a token of appreciation, the fundraiser is also offering exciting "gifts" for donations of any value, including movie credit and unique props from the film.

“And if you find yourself unable to contribute financially, we kindly ask for your support in spreading the word about our IndieGoGo page to others who may share our passion and vision,” she said.

When the film is completed, Botelho said she plans to host public screenings in New England, visiting New England high schools to enrich education on the pre-Civil War era, offering "Masterclass" lessons for aspiring filmmakers in SouthCoast Massachusetts and entering into top-tier film festivals like Tribeca and Sundance.

She also said she has a script idea for a feature film down the road.

“I hope people come away with a greater appreciation for the story of Polly Johnson and a thirst for knowledge of people who have been less prominent in popular history,” she said.

Standard-Times staff writer Seth Chitwood can be reached at schitwood@s-t.com. Follow him on twitter:@ChitwoodReports.Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: 'Sweet Freedom' Polly Johnson film begins filming in New Bedford