JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - The Two Mississippi Museums hosted a screening for “Rising Hope” Sunday afternoon.

The documentary is based in the Mississippi Delta and started out as a short film.

Director and producer of the film, Theo Avgerinos, said after hearing the stories of leaders, students, and other residents in the community, he felt their stories needed more time.

They began filming in 2017 and wrapped five years later. The hour and 40-minute film follows community members as they reflect on what their cities used to be, what they have become, and what they could be.

It highlights their commitment to stay in their community rather than move away, along with several nonprofit organizations working to keep hope alive.

“They’re nonprofits. They’re different organizations that are the last line of defense... where public funding for education has fallen off, and that’s just unjust. I thought that Americans need to know that,” he said.

One theme from the film is not to judge a book by its cover.

“The attitude, the resilience, the themes of hope, the passion, the kindness. That’s all there, and optically, sometimes, we can see a town and write it off for looking abandoned. Physically, that could be true, but spiritually, it’s not,” Avgerinos said.

The director does not think the community lacks drive; it lacks resources.

“Everyone that I met, from Shaw to Indianola, everyone had incredible talent and passion. They just need the opportunities, and that’s missing,” he said.

Avgerinos believes this is not a story unique to Mississippi but a story many people in America can relate to.

He plans to turn “Rising Hope” into a series focusing on other regions in the United States and hopes to have it on streaming platforms soon.

Want more WLBT news in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please to report it and include the headline of the story in your email.