New film ‘Lanier’ to reveal true story of town drowned under the lake

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — A new movie depicting the “hidden truths” of what lies underneath Lake Lanier will soon be coming to a screen near you.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Inspired by true events of Oscarville, Georgia, “Lanier”, is a story of a detective who’s forced to come to a realization of the dark truth hidden at the bottom of Lake Lanier.

While Lake Lanier is one of Georgia’s top attractions, Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen spoke to a woman, who once lived on the land that is now under the lake.

Eighty-six-year-old Gloria Holland once lived on the land that is now under the lake.

According to Dawson News, in 1912 Oscarville, a town that stood in northeastern Forsyth near Hall County, was a thriving majority-Black community.

But the life she remembers vanished in 1956. That’s the year the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the Buford Dam.

Officials created a 3,800-acre reservoir named Lake Sidney Lanier. It was built for drinking water and flood control.

For the greater good, 700 families had to go. And the lives they left behind, were buried under 600 billion gallons of water.

RELATED STORIES:

• Could Lake Lanier be renamed? This is what a new federal report says
• Newly discovered Lake Lanier maps uncover submerged businesses
• “Lost Boat” may be last abandoned houseboat on Lake Lanier

Just recently, Margaritaville at Lanier Islands announced that they are keeping the beach open, but not allowing anyone to go into the water. They’ve even installed a fence about a foot from the shoreline so that beachgoers can only let the water lap at their feet.

In 2019, a local fisherman said one of his worst fears came true when he discovered a minivan with the body of a man deep inside the lake.

“One of my worst fears is seeing a drowning victim or something out there,” said fisherman Jason Millen. “To come across something like that, it’s crazy.”

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

The artwork of the movie poster appears to have a woman falling into the water with the words Lanier underneath.

On the movie’s Facebook page, the cast shared behind the scene photos of the soon-to-be-released film.

The scary film is set to be released, on Sept. 16. Viewers can also catch the film on streaming services, Amazon Prime, AppleTV, and Roku.

While some may say, you should leave things in the past, Holland said it’s a story that needs to be told. Otherwise, the upcoming generation may not know there was once land under the lake.

“Because they don’t think of what the lake did to the people that were here. The property they owned and spent their lives on, buried in water,” Holland said.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Father of UGA player killed in crash files $40M lawsuit against athletic association, Jalen Carter

©2022 Cox Media Group