What does it mean to be Southern?

At Reel South and Reel South Film we believe that the South is not a group of states but rather a state of being. Go right ahead! Try it for yourself. Search the Internet for a list of Southern states. Look at the maps. Missouri... not Missouri? Florida... Not Florida, or only part of it? What about Maryland? Washington DC? Both south of the Mason Dixon Line, the location of which opens another bag of worms.

So if Southern is a state of being, what are its qualities? What makes something uniquely Southern?

That is the question we ask as the founders of Reel South Film. Reel South Film is a film and photography competition for high school and college students. Entries should reflect the common threads that are the ties that bind Southerners as one.

So if you were listing qualities on a rubric for judges to consider, what would Southern look like, sound like; what would it make you feel?