Summer heats up in rural Louisiana beside Eve’s Bayou, 1962, as the Batiste family tries to survive the secrets they’ve kept and the betrayals they’ve endured.
Acting
Jurnee Smollett's devastating child performance—career-defining at ten.
Direction
Kasi Lemmons' debut remains one of the strongest directorial entrances ever.
Cinematography
Louisiana humidity practically drips off every frame.
Director
Kasi Lemmons
Jurnee Smollett
Eve Batiste
Meagan Good
Cisely Batiste
Samuel L. Jackson
Louis Batiste
Lynn Whitfield
Roz Batiste
Debbi Morgan
Mozelle Batiste Delacroix
Jake Smollett
Poe Batiste
Ethel Ayler
Gran Mère
Diahann Carroll
Elzora
Vondie Curtis-Hall
Julian Grayraven
Roger Guenveur Smith
Lenny Mereaux
Lisa Nicole Carson
Matty Mereaux
Branford Marsalis
Harry
Marcus Lyle Brown
Hosea
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was the highest-grossing independent film of 1997 directed by an African American woman.
US
