Story
THE MYTH
In the late nineteenth century, after the state of Alabama lost a legal battle with Georgia over access to the Chattahoochee River, Phenix City, Alabama was forced to seek new paths to economic survival. Civic leaders soon embraced organized crime ushering in the era that would earn the town its notorious nickname, “The Wickedest City in America.”
By the mid‑twentieth century, many residents had grown weary of being held under the thumb of crime bosses. In 1954, a reformist district attorney‑elect and other concerned citizens vowed to clean up the city. That summer, a shocking act of violence thrust Phenix City into the national spotlight, forging a legacy that would entangle history and myth for decades.
THE RECKONING
In 2016, Phenix City elected its first Black mayor, Eddie Lowe. Mayor Lowe has committed his tenure as a civic leader to community investment and opportunity. He’s led the “Positively Phenix City” campaign and created a scholarship program that provides funding and support for underserved Phenix City youth and their tertiary education needs.
OUR WICKED CITY confronts the past through creative expression by placing the city’s youth, including some that have been a part of Mayor Lowe’s scholarship program, alongside archival records, oral histories, and physical remains from Phenix City’s era of vice. Through archives, oral histories, verité moments, and reenactment, the film traces a community navigating the space between myth, memory, and the historical record.
TRANSFORMATION
Drawing from archival footage describing Phenix City’s darker legacy as a “dirty, filthy coat,” the film reframes the metaphor. Instead of hiding from Phenix City’s past, younger generations inherit it with open arms and reshape it through creative interpretation.
OUR WICKED CITY centers on youth-led performances as cathartic means of healing. These final constructed scenes examine the city's history, in an effort to reclaim stories once buried or distorted. The film concludes by showing Phenix City in transition, as the next generation defines what the city’s future, and its once‑tarnished reputation, will become.