This movie was made mainly on Amelia Island in Florida. Some of the film talks place in Fernindina Beach. The Mall scenes were in Jacksonville, Florida.
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This is where I grew up. It is Fernandina beach and Jax Fla
shareThe movie was mosly filmed at Amelia Island in Nassau County, Florida, mostly in the town of Amelina City to the south and the larger town of Fernandina Beach to the north, with the state line of Georgia no more than a few miles to the north of the location. I don't know where the mall setting was filmed. Probally one of the many shopping malls in Jacksonville just south of Amelia Island but I have not found it.
Look on any World/USA atlas book and you'll see the town just north of Jacksonville in the northeast corner of the Florida coast. I have not been back there for some time but I hope to see it again someday.
It was filmed at Regency Square Mall in Jacksonville (the mall scene)
shareThe mall is Regency Square Mall near Atlantic and Beach Blvds.
The main town on the island is Fernandina Beach, and the scenes where the African-Americans live are filmed in American Beach, a historically African-American community. Sadly, the latter community is sandwiched in between two high-end resorts, and it appears that its uniqueness will become a thing of the past.
When I grew up on the island, its populace was primarily blue-collar workers, mainly people who worked at the paper mills and fishermen and shrimpers. In many ways, it was an ideal existence. We may not have had much money, but there was a genuine sense of community. Now that is gone, sadly, as the price of real estate has escalated insanely, and developers try to get around every loophole and bypass Florida wetland designations for profit.
As others have mentioned, this movie was indeed filmed on Amelia Island, Florida, just north of Jacksonville in the northeastern-most corner of the state. The small town depicted in many scenes is Fernandina Beach, the county seat of Nassau County. The old fort seen when Marly (Edie Falco) goes to confront her ex, the Civil War "re-enactor," is an actual Civil War-era fort, now known as Fort Clinch State Park, located between the center of Fernandina Beach and the ocean.
However, the small community on the ocean where Eunice Stokes (Mary Alice) lives when her "prodigal daughter" Desiree (Angela Bassett) returns with her new husband was filmed at American Beach, on Amelia Island but south of Fernandina. American Beach is locally famous as "the black beach" during racially integrated times. Jazz greats played small local nightclubs in American Beach and black celebrities visited while on their tours or vacations in Florida throughout the Forties, Fifties and well into the Sixties, before they were more welcome elsewhere. Prominent local blacks from Jacksonville maintained vacation or getaway homes in American Beach. But those particular aspects of life at American Beach are now ancient history, and the community is sparsely populated; and actually in danger of becoming the kind of beachfront development statistic the whole movie portrays.
Finally, the shopping mall scenes were shot at the Regency Square Mall in Jacksonville. Trivia: the final scene of the golfers shows them teeing up in the middle of a heavily travelled local roadway, with restaurant and store signs littering both sides of the street into the distance. This scene was shot in a median between lanes of Atlantic Boulevard right in front of Regency Square Mall. Although the traffic is realistic and there are a number of advertising and location signs along Atlantic Blvd. in that area, locals can easily tell that this is a process shot: Many of the signs you see were added in post production. Some of the signs you see in this shot cannot be seen with the camera looking in that direction--they are behind the actual camera postion! The upshot being, the Regency area is crowded with commerce, but not quite as much as is shown by that camera shot.
I think I read somewhere that there is a lady who is the basis for "Doctor Lloyd" character who is trying to rally community support against the annexation and development - that this effort is essentially factual.
shareYou could be referring to "The Beach Lady." She was an elderly African American woman who usually wore her hair in extravagant ways and wore very colorful clothes. She was considered a treasure of Amelia Island and was one of the rallying forces against development, especially regarding development in American Beach, a largely black self-owned area on the island. She came to speak at my elementary school once, and I conversed with her several years later, at said beach. Unfortuneatly, she died this past year, and is greatly missed.
Amelia Island is a small community that consists of a thriving, downtown area called "Centere Street." Think local, rather expensive shops. It's a great place to go for a walk and take in the culture. The rest of the island consist of fantastic beaches, neighborhoods, and stores and restaurant chains like Wal-mart, and recently, Applebees. The southern end of the island is dominated by resorts The Plantation and the Ritz Carlton and their golf courses. I've been to Plantation several times, and they have very nice gym facilities and great places to eat and shop.
Also, while there is a line between Fernandina Beach, and the rest of the island, its' completely seamless. The whole island could be called Fernandina Beach.
I'm a recent High School graduate from the local school, and am enjoying my last summer at this beautiful island before I ship off to college. I can't wait to retire here after I've lived my life, because it's a very idyllic place. I can try to answer any further questions about the island and surrounding area.
It is called Fernanidna Beach and Yulee. It is right below the Georgia state line on the East coast. But don't be fooled. It doesn't look like everything in there. The motel/restaurant is in Yulee and the beach is in Fernandina Beach. It is funny watching a movie where you know what is really fake or not. The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking was filmed here too.
shareIndeed, Pippy Longstockings was filmed in the Barnabas House on Amelia Island. I am a musician and played there once during the annual Bed and Breakfast Tour.
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