CUMBERLAND: Island in Time

The main road on Cumberland Island.

[ This one-hour television special tells the history of a secluded barrier island and how it became a modern day environmental oasis. The project aired in numerous North American and international markets and is now available in DVD and digital download.]

“CUMBERLAND: Island In Time” is an award-wining documentary that tells the rich history of this unique and wild place — from it’s earliest beginnings to its establishment as a National Seashore.

Located just off the East Coast of the United States yet, a million miles away, Cumberland has been a haven for pirates, prisoners, and Presidents. Perhaps best known as the secluded island paradise where John F. Kennedy and Caroline Bessette were married, the island has been home to Nathaniel Greene and the wealthy Carnegie family.

The film features rare never-before-seen footage from Carnegie family home movies and many unpublished archival photographs. It also includes footage shot on the island over a four-year period that shows Cumberland in all its wild and untamed splendor, throughout the four seasons.

Featured in the film are interviews with many people connected with the island, including the writer John McPhee, President Jimmy Carter, writer Robert Coram, artist Gogo Ferguson, historian Mary Miller, Georgia Conservancy founder Hans Neuhauser, and naturalist Carol Ruckdeschel.

Narrated by Grace Zabriskie   Edited by Amy Linton

Original Music Score by James Oliverio

Written, Produced, Directed and Photographed by William VanDerKloot

Check out the Trailer

Check out the DVD on amazon

Customer Review: “What a delightful and amazing experience to watch ‘Cumberland.’ I must say I was tickled, engaged and immersed in so many ways! While the cinematography presents a most remarkable perspective to the eye, soul and mind, I appreciate the EFFORT required for manufacturing: the endless bugs, the freezing wind, salt air and it corrosive effects on equipment, sand, vehicles that don’t go.  

Bravo, bravo to your tireless intent.  I am still jazzed by the energy of it all.”  -GF

Afternoon shadows on the Cumberland beach.

Sound recordist David Terry and director Bill VanDerKloot on location in the marsh muck of Cumberland Island.

Cumberland beach in winter.