Movie
Been Here Stay Here
Narrative tropes
Humans Never Give Up
highTangier Island faces objectively hopeless conditions — two-thirds of its land already lost, disappearance projected by century's end — yet residents continue waterman traditions, seasonal ceremonies, and church life without abandoning the island. The three-generation portrait (Eskridge, Cameron, Jacob) frames this persistence as devotion rather than denial. Cameron explicitly understands the scientific reality of sea-level rise yet remains emotionally tied to the island, directly contrasting rational calculation against stubborn human attachment to place. The film's emotional core is the ongoing decision to keep going, not any victory over the threat.
About this trope: Facing impossible odds, humans endure, adapt, and find reasons to keep going. Resilience and refusal to surrender is humanity's defining and most admirable trait.
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Full plot (spoilers)
Been Here Stay Here is an 85-minute observational documentary directed by David Usui, set on Tangier Island—a remote fishing community in Virginia's Chesapeake Bay that has lost roughly two-thirds of its land over the past 150 years and faces projected disappearance by century's end. The film unfolds without narration, expert interviews, or on-screen statistics, instead immersing viewers in the rhythms of daily island life across all four seasons. Usui spent nearly two years building relationships with residents before filming began in late 2019, and the resulting work functions as both documentary and meditative mood piece.
Three subjects anchor the multi-generational portrait: Mayor James 'Ooker' Eskridge, a 65-year-old sixth-generation waterman who holds informal discussions about sea-level rise in what locals call his 'Situation Room'; Cameron Evans, a 20-year-old college student attending Virginia Wesleyan on the mainland who understands global warming from an academic perspective but remains tied to the island; and Jacob Parks, a 7-year-old boy already learning waterman traditions, shown alone in a small dinghy checking hand-set crab traps. Together they represent past, present, and an uncertain future.
The film documents the ceremonies and labor that define Tangier life: the traditional Blessing of the Fleet, crabbing and oyster harvesting, waterfowl hunting from duck blinds, Halloween celebrations held during high tide as water laps at doorsteps, and church services whose audio is layered over images of the landscape. Faith is central—the church serves as the community's bedrock, and residents grapple openly with the relationship between religious belief and scientific reality. A young pastor appears attempting to bridge that gap. The film also captures a visiting German documentary crew interviewing islanders, and notes the disparity between protective measures Maryland funds for its own eroding islands versus the lack of similar investment in Tangier due to cost. Rather than framing the community in terms of denial or conflict, the film emphasizes devotion to place, generational memory, and a way of life that resists easy political categorization.
Sources: IMDb (search metadata), Film Fest Report (IDFA 2024 review), Film Festival Today (review), Chesapeake Bay Magazine (filmmaker interview)