August 24, 2023
October 1, 2022

Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground, has partnered with Netflix to acquire the rights to Descendant. Descendant is a documentary from director Margaret Brown that focuses on the residents of Africatown and their connection to Clotilda, the last ship known to have brought captive Africans to the US. The film won the US Documentary Special Jury Award: Creative Vision at Sundance in 2022.

SEARCH identified Clotilda in 2019, a discovery that garnered worldwide attention. In addition to Descendant, various aspects of Clotilda’s story appear in three National Geographic specials, including the work by SEARCH maritime archaeologists to document the wreck. Descendant specifically features the powerful moment in a public meeting with the descendants of the 107 captives from Clotilda in which SEARCH Senior Vice President Dr. James P. Delgado announces that the wreck has been positively identified as Clotilda.

You can stream Descendant on Netflix now. You can also learn more about our ongoing work on Clotilda via our Explore page.