Mountain Talk

King Coal

The cultural roots of coal continue to permeate the rituals of daily life in Appalachia even as its economic power wanes. The journey of a coal miner’

2023

The Appalachians

Follows the 300 year history of the Appalachian people with interviews by scholars, musicians and writers.

2005

Trouble Behind

During World War I, African-Americans worked on the railroad near Corbin, Kentucky. When whites returned from the war, there was conflict. Whites soug

1991

Scenes from the Blackjewel Miners Blockade

In July of 2019 the Blackjewel coal company announced it was declaring bankruptcy. Miners were told to stop working mid shift, and their last paycheck

2020

The Curse and the Jubilee

An intimate, arresting portrait of the cursed Appalachian mining town of Ivanhoe, Virginia. The film captures the town as it prepares for the annual J

2018

Hillbilly

A documentary that examines the cultural stereotype of the people of Appalachia and how that has affected America's relationship with its rural commun

2018

No Such Right: The End of Roe in Appalachia

“No Such Right” is a snapshot of a region in crisis. In the aftermath of the stunning Dobbs v Jackson decision, doctors, lawyers, activists, and young

2022

American Hollow

This documentary follows the lives of the Bowling family as they fight to survive in dirt-poor Appalachia. Matriarch Iree has given birth to 13 childr

1999

A Life Reimagined: The George Masa Story

In 1915 a young, charismatic Japanese man with a mysterious past entered into the Appalachian culture of Asheville, North Carolina, is suspicioned a s

The End of an Old Song

John Cohen, founding member of the ‘50s folk troupe the New Lost City Ramblers, started making films in order to bring together the two disciplines he

1969

My Great Great Great Uncle Built Churches

Bob Childress was the founder and builder of the famous "Rock Churches" of southwest Virginia, all established between 1919 and 1954. In 2022, Buford

2022

Picture Proof

Examines the intergenerational impact of addiction by chronicling the love, labor, loss, and uncertainty of one woman’s struggle to live a life of sob

2023

Harry Caudill: A Man of Courage

One of the most important Kentuckians of the 20th century, Harry Caudill brought the story of Appalachia to national attention when his book “Night Co

2015

Appalachian Journey

Appalachian Journey is one of five films made from footage that Alan Lomax shot between 1978 and 1985 for the PBS American Patchwork series (1991). I

1991

Sprout Wings and Fly

Set in the North Carolina Appalachians, Sprout Wings and Fly honors the fiddle playing of 82-year-old Tommy Jarrell of Toast, NC. Tommy was quirky, gr

1983

Portraits and Dreams

Revisit photographs created by Kentucky school children in the 1970s and the place where their photos were made. Photographer and artist Wendy Ewald,

2020

Tradition

Whiskey-making, one of the oldest traditions in the mountains, has been illegal since the end of the 18th century. Tradition is a portrait of Appalach

1973

Stranger with a Camera

In 1967 Canadian filmmaker Hugh O'Connor came with a crew to eastern Kentucky to make a film showing people from all walks of life in the United State

2000

You Gave Me A Song: The Life and Music of Alice Gerrard

You Gave Me A Song offers an intimate portrait of old-time music pioneer Alice Gerrard and her remarkable, unpredictable journey creating and preservi

2019

Running for the Mountains

RUNNING FOR THE MOUNTAINS digs into West Virginia's history of 'patriotic sacrifice,' unearthing veins of dark money and dirty politics. The film tra

2024