The Reconstruction of Asa Carter

It is about Asa Earl Carter (1925–1979), who was a segregationist activist in the Southern United States in the 1950s and 1960s, before he had mainstream success in the 1970s as the supposed Cherokee novelist Forrest Carter, which created a scandal when his real identity was revealed.^[1]

The film consists of archive footage and interviews with Carter's friends and associates, who were often unaware of his multiple careers and personas.^[1][2] It was produced by G. T. T. Gone to Texas and ITVS. The runtime is 57 minutes.^[3]

Cynthia Fuchs of PopMatters wrote that the film does not pretend to reveal the true Carter, but treats his elusiveness and contradictory sides as traits in themselves.^[4] In The Journal of American History, James I. Deutsch called the documentary fascinating and wrote that it is based on solid research, successfully showing Carter's different faces.^[1]