All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt is a 2023 American drama film written and directed by Raven Jackson in her feature-film directorial debut. It stars Charleen McClure, Moses Ingram, Reginald Helms Jr., Zainab Jah, Sheila Atim, and Chris Chalk. Barry Jenkins serves as a producer under his Pastel banner. The film has very little spoken dialogue.

It had its world premiere in the U.S. Dramatic competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2023 and was released by A24 on November 3, 2023. It received positive reviews from critics and was named one of the top 10 independent films of 2023 by the National Board of Review.

Plot
The film charts the growth, loves, and heartbreaks of a Black woman in Mississippi, from her childhood through to her adult years.

Cast

 * Charleen McClure as Mack
 * Kaylee Nicole Johnson as young Mack
 * Zainab Jah as older Mack
 * Moses Ingram as Josie
 * Jayah Henry as young Josie
 * Reginald Helms Jr. as Wood
 * Preston McDowell as young Wood
 * Sheila Atim as Evelyn
 * Chris Chalk as Isaiah

Production
In February 2021, it was announced that Raven Jackson would write and direct the film, with Barry Jenkins set to serve as a producer under his Pastel banner, and A24 set to produce and distribute.

Principal photography took place in Tennessee and in Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi in the fall of 2021.

Release
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2023. It also screened at the 71st San Sebastián International Film Festival and the 2023 New York Film Festival. The film was released by A24 on November 3, 2023.

Reception
Richard Brody, from The New Yorker, described it as the most distinctive film of the year-2023 from a strict perspective of inventive narrative form.