Taking place in the director’s parents’ hometown outside of Columbus, Mississippi, The Island of St. Matthews is a film about the loss of family history, departing from their lack of photographs. A man water skiing, another working at a lock and dam, and a baptism, followed by interviews with locals who recall a pair of devastating floods in the area. Often seen as a poem and a paean to the citizens of the Westport, the film explores tensions between memory, labour and nature.