Razing Appalachia
54 minutes | 2003 I DVCAM
"Quietly heartbreaking..." – Mother Jones Magazine
In the misty folds of the Appalachian mountains lies Pigeonroost hollow, in Blair, West Virginia. With its narrow creek and crawdads, its wild ginseng and raccoons, Pigeonroost looks as it might have a century ago – a woody haven tucked away from the marches of time and technology. But for how long? And at what price? In May 1998, Arch Coal announced it would expand its Dal-Tex strip mine just above the small town of Blair.
National broadcast on the acclaimed PBS series Independent Lens in 2003 and in more than 30 countries globally as a part of the ITVS television series True Stories: Life in the USA.
Screenings: Press:
First Prize, The Institute for Rural Poverty, Farmington, ME The New Yorker
Best Environmental Film, Vermont International Film Festival Variety
Special Jury Prize, Cinevue International Film Festival Mother Jones
Honorable Mention, EarthVision Environmental Film Festival
Honorable Mention, Rural Route Film Festival
Nashville Independent Film Festival
Woodstock Film Festival
Tahoe International Film Festival
Washington D.C. Environmental Film Festival
Wild & Scenic Film Festival, Nevada City, CA
International Working Class Film & Video Festival, San Francisco, CA
Memphis Digital Arts Co-Op Digital Festival, Memphis, TN
Downstream International Film Festival, Gainesville, GA
Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project, Asheville, NC
International Peace and Human Security Media Festival, NYC
United Nations Association Film Festival, Palo Alto, CA
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
Ojai Film Festival, CA
Pennsylvania Film Festival, Scranton, PA
Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival
American Conservation Film Festival
Semarang International Film Festival, Indonesia
Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, Ithaca, NY
Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC
Valleyfest Independent Film Festival, Knoxville, TN
Great Lakes Film Festival, Erie, PA
Eye of the Beholder Film Festival, Asheville, NC
Flooded Out Film Festival, Charleston, WV
American Rivers, Washington, DC
The Appalachian Center of Berea College, KY
West Virginia Coal Summit, Charleston, WV
Center for Popular Economics, Amherst, MA
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, London, KY
Save the Children, Berea KY
SEED Center, Albuquerque, NM
New York Youth Summit on Sustainable Development
Woodland Community Land Trust, Clairfield, TN
Southern Girls Convention, Dunwoody, GA
Antioch New England Graduate School, Keene, NH
Environmental Grantmakers Association, Asheville, NC
One World Week, University of Leeds, UK
Omni Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology, Fayetteville, AK
Pocahontas Free Libraries, Marlinton, WV
Ohio County Public Library, Wheeling, WV
College of William & Mary Earth Day Celebration
University of Iowa Earth Day Celebration
Real to Reel Film Festival, Charlotte, NC, Razing Appalachia
Center for Folklore & Ethnography, University of Pennsylvania
Funded in part by the Jerome Foundation with additional support from The MacDowell Colony.
Distributed by Bullfrog Films.
