Concept Overview: Chasing Slim

Chasing Slim follows the intimate and emotional road trip of Watermelon Slim, a renowned Delta blues musician, as he travels from his home in Mississippi to the frozen expanse of Churchill, Manitoba. Along the way, Slim, in his twilight years, faces the unresolved truths of his life—of love, loss, and the secret he's kept hidden for 75 years: his sexuality.

With his music as the soundtrack to this personal revelation, the film weaves together Slim’s powerful songs with stories from his past, creating a portrait of a man struggling to reconcile the life he’s lived with the one he yearns to live.

The narrative unfolds through a blend of present-day storytelling, flashbacks, and collage animation to vividly portray Slim’s journey of self-discovery. As Slim and his travel companion, Scott Nolan, prepare for an unconventional tour of the remote corners of Canada, the vast, unforgiving northern landscape mirrors Slim’s own emotional terrain, full of unspoken pain and quiet resilience.

This non-fiction portrait will explore themes of identity, freedom, and legacy, using music and personal storytelling to illuminate a long-held secret.

Chasing Slim: Treatment

It's a warm fall morning in Clarksdale, Mississippi as the fields of cotton are harvested. Delta blues legend Watermelon Slim is in his bedroom packing a suitcase, feeling a bit stiff with age and contemplating a secret he's kept hidden for 75 years: "Is it time to come out?" His weathered face and calloused hands tell stories of a life lived fully, yet society tells him his relevance is fleeting, so he’s preparing for what may well be his last big road trip. He says his goodbyes to Art and Maxine at the Bluesberry Cafe, a live music venue and restaurant of which he is a partial owner, drives his dog Filo out to a friend’s farm for safe keeping, and after a restless night, hits the road north for the first phase of his next adventure.

Slim arrives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to meet with his old friend and touring partner Scott Nolan. At 50, Scott is something of an outsider in the music scene, but a highly accomplished musician and songwriter. Although he has long admired Slim, Scott doesn’t fully grasp the weight of his struggles, representing a generation that is more open about sexuality and identity in contrast with Slim’s reticence to reveal his truth.

Slim's life has been one of resilience and reinvention, and as he navigates the challenges of aging, he hopes to expand his musical horizons beyond the confines of traditional blues. His collaboration with a musician as seasoned as Scott represents a new chapter in his career marked by artistic exploration and self-discovery.

The pair will spend a week or so putting their stage show together. With Slim steeped in the blues and Scott leaning more towards the folk end of the roots spectrum, they spend many hours into the night rehearsing this duo act and creating what they hope to be an extraordinary musical event.

The next phase of this road trip will include a series of house concerts in northern Manitoba, followed by a train trip to Churchill, Manitoba, which sits at the edge of Hudson Bay and the frozen Arctic. These intimate concerts will introduce Slim to some rural Canadian music lovers with plenty of opinions on life and a few comments on the state of affairs in America to share along the way. It will also be an opportunity for connection between artist and audience as Slim and Scott perform in cozy living rooms and town halls —a testament to the duo’s enduring legacy and ability to touch hearts and minds.

After a week of house concerts, they arrive in Thompson, Manitoba - an industrious mining town with a proud Indigenous identity and deep roots in the fur trade. Slim is tempted to take some time out to go fishing, but they’ve got a train to Churchill to catch.

Slim is a remarkable storyteller, and, through his road stories, we catch glimpses of his inner emotional world. These early conversations will allow the audience to understand that Slim’s music is not merely the blues, but a language he uses to process his loss and heartache—particularly the feelings of love and desire he's had to suppress.

Aboard the train, Scott enquires about Slim's past relationships, but he evades the question, offering vague, elusive answers and redirecting the conversation to music or hardships of the road. He tells some stories of fleeting romances, but nothing too personal that speaks to the full depth of his heart. This sets the stage for the emotional tension to build throughout the journey.

As the train moves deeper into the cold, desolate northern landscapes, the setting amplifies Slim's internal journey. The vast, empty spaces outside the train’s windows reflect the inner isolation and emotional chasm he's lived with for decades. We see Slim looking out the window and remembering. The silence of the train, broken only by the low hum of its engine and the occasional conversation, releases a flood of memories Slim has long suppressed. The frozen forests turn to sparsely treed tundra, evoking images of Slim’s past lovers—each of whom left a scar on his heart.

This is where the narrative becomes more fluid, blending past and present. The flashbacks to Slim’s lost loves—his first during his service in Vietnam, a passionate affair in Oklahoma, and the painful betrayal that led to a deep mistrust of intimacy—are brought to life in a collage of animation. His dysfunctional marriage, the daughter who survived his attempt at conforming to societal norms—these memories play like disjointed but vivid dreams—fluid, nonlinear, and deeply emotional, reflecting how Slim’s grief has been bottled up for so long. Each memory is tied to a moment in his musical career, showing how each love, loss, and heartache affected his songwriting and performances. Slim’s greatest blues songs were born not of joy, but of pain and longing.

As Slim reflects on his past, he begins to grapple with an unspoken question that has long plagued him: Should he come out now, at the end of his life and career, and share the truth about his sexuality with the world? Is living authentically worth sacrificing his hard-won legacy? Through his interactions with Scott, Slim reveals his fear that coming out could jeopardize his reputation, destroy his influence, and erase the impact of his career. This fear has kept him from ever publicly addressing his true self and it's clear that the weight of this silence is crushing him.

Scott begins to realize that Slim’s struggle is more than just the aches of old age. The younger musician, having come up in a generation more open and accepting to diverse sexual identities, encourages Slim to be true to himself. While Scott doesn't fully understand the personal toll of keeping such a secret, he senses that Slim is trapped by it. He gently presses Slim for more stories, in an attempt to coax him into opening up.

The moment of emotional release comes amid an impromptu solo performance in the train’s dining car where Slim plays just for the passengers. This moment is charged with raw vulnerability as he pours everything into the music—playing not just the blues, but a song of confession. The music speaks louder than words: a desperate, aching cry for the loves he never had the courage to claim—for the life he lived in the shadows. It's a pivotal moment in the story—a kind of unspoken coming out—where Slim finally allows his music to speak his truth.

After the performance, Slim finally understands that his truth—though painful to confront—could set him free. He begins to think less about how the world might perceive him and more about how he wishes to live the remainder of his life. He realizes that the weight of his secret has hindered his ability to truly live, and that by hiding it, he has never been fully present in his own story.

Slim eventually opens up to Scott, telling him the full story of his hidden life. Scott listens with great sympathy, understanding, and awe at the courage it took for Slim to finally speak these words aloud. For Slim, this moment of confession is an act of liberation—a quiet but powerful step toward personal peace.

The final scene takes place in Churchill, a remote town at the edge of the world. After performing his last set, Slim decides to speak openly about his life and truth. As he stands before the crowd—perhaps a mix of locals and curious travelers—he shares his story. It’s not a grand public spectacle, but a humble, intimate revelation. The reception is mixed—some applaud, others are uncomfortable—but Slim is unfazed, having made his peace.

As the train begins its journey back south, Slim watches the frozen landscape pass by one last time. He has no illusions about the future of his legacy—he knows that the world may not fully understand or accept him, but for the first time in a long time, he feels at peace. The train ride, both literal and metaphorical, has taken him through the wilderness of his own soul, and he has emerged, finally, as himself.