THE SNATCH AWAY

On the same day two boys in the American Deep South are swept into the air by different tornadoes and survive. But for what? THE SNATCH AWAY is an epic documentary drama about the whirlwind's place in the human imagination, from the Bible, through Oz, into the storm seasons of the Deep South today.

THE SNATCH AWAY takes the story of tornado survivors Will and Reggie as the starting point for a journey into the astonishing ways tornadoes are interpreted in science, ritual and sermon. THE SNATCH AWAY embeds itself in the action of the Southern storm seasons with extraordinarily dramatic verité of emergency responders and legendary weatherman James Spann, as well as chilling archive of tornado strikes in the deadliest tornado hotspot in the world. It also widens the lens to show the culture arising from the whirlwind.

Hollywood special effects artists who worked on Twisters explain how a giant windsock filled with sand stood in for the tornado that terrified audiences in The Wizard of Oz. Cherokee Southerners recount the beliefs of the first peoples to havinge experienced tornadoes in the Deep South; we visit the tornado-shelter testing sites where two-by-fours are fired at concrete at 200mph; we sit below the pulpits of rural Alabama where pastors apocalyptically explain the latest deaths and devastation in their community; out on the plains of Oklahoma the film rides shotgun with tornado-chasing scientists of the Severe Storms Laboratory on the most cutting-edge studies of the phenomenon.

Director | Josh Bullock

Associate Producer | Kristin Dober

Director of Photography | Gabe Elder

Cameraman | Caleb Zorn