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:
The Institute for Rural Poverty, Farmington, ME, WINNER: First Prize
Vermont International Film Festival, WINNER: Best Environmental Film
Cinevue International Film Festival, WINNER: Special Jury Prize
EarthVision Environmental Film Festival, Honorable Mention
Rural Route Film Festival, Honorable Mention
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 Festival, San Francisco
Memphis Digital Arts Co-Op Digital Festival, Memphis
Downstream International Film Festival, Gainesville, GA
Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project, Asheville
International Peace and Human Security Media Festival, NYC
United Nations Association Film Festival, Palo Alto, CA
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
Ojai Film Festival
Pennsylvania Film Festival
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
Valleyfest Independent Film Festival, Knoxville
Great Lakes Film Festival, Erie
Eye of the Beholder Film Festival, Asheville
Flooded Out Film Festival, Charleston, WV
American Rivers, Washington, DC
The Appalachian Center of Berea College
West Virginia Coal Summit, Charleston, WV
Center for Popular Economics, Amherst, MA
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth
Save the Children, Berea KY
SEED Center, Albuquerque
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
One World Week, University of Leeds
Omni Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology, Fayetteville
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
Center for Folklore & Ethnography, University of Pennsylvania
Distributed by Bullfrog Films
Press:
The New Yorker
Variety
Mother Jones