Tell it Ray

Ray is a documentary short about the filmmaker's Grandad and his colourful life, from the post-war streets of the East End to the humble pavements of Basildon.

No one could spin a yarn to make a sale like Ray Lum. Twenty years after their initial meeting, Bill Ferris returned home to Mississippi in the early ‘70s with a camera. The result reveals a look back at the colorful rhythms of Ray’s life—at home, at the auction, joking with strangers outside country stores— and provides a glimpse at Southern manhood, friendship and loss. Now nearly Ray’s age when they first filmed, Ferris has become a Grammy Award winning documentarian and renowned folklorist. Using never before seen 16mm footage and new animations, OKAY, MR. RAY is a short documentary film about how even the tallest tales help us keep the memory alive of the ones we love.

A little kid stranded, growing up in a country town he hates. The locals reckon it's a paradise, but as far as he can see, the only interesting stuff happens to a guy the whole town dismisses as a loser... Ray.

Ray used to be a sailor, but now he lives on the streets of Toronto. He dreams of getting back on the water and - in the ultimate achievement of the oblivion he craves - sailing away from it all.

Ray may avoid eye contact, not talk much, and move awkwardly, but he's always relatively normal until one day... he isn't, and it's up to his friends to find out what's wrong with him.

Ray Hewitt, a shell shocked Vietnam Vet, returns home years after the war to move in with his sister Doris. However, the forces of small town U.S.A., Doris's three children and old trauma threaten to push Ray over the edge. Yet, the strain of Ray's visit may be just what is needed for the family to discover the importance of one other.