The traces of the past are still present in American landscapes and cityscapes, on gable paintings and in forgotten letters. And also in the systemic violence to which black Americans are still subjected. John Brown ‒ a white, militant activist and a fierce opponent of slavery ‒ was sentenced to death in 1859 for a failed attempt to start an armed revolution. His story is a prism through which contemporary artist Lee Anne Schmitt's beautiful and thought-provoking film takes a clear and sober look at the dark side of American history.

Purge This Land is dedicated to Schmitt's own children, who by all accounts can look forward to growing up under the odious yoke of racism, where civil rights movements are merely a detail from the past.