Archive for May, 2007

The Amazing World of the Wizard of Braz

Sunday, May 20th, 2007

Huntington Galleries recently hosted the opening of its Exhibition 280, including video art for the first time. I got to see three of the entries - “Wizard of Braz,” “Pilot/Gamer,” and “So Sentimental.” (more…)

Affiliated Construction Trades Foundation Produces Great WV Films

Friday, May 18th, 2007

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Steve White and his Affiliated Construction Trades Foundation have been producing great TV shows and commercials  about the problems laboring people have in West Virginia. For years they have stepped up and made first-class visuals about the reality of life for almost everyone who lives in the state, showing how hard it is to make a decent living. Hopefully the 2007 Paden City Labor Day Film Festival will be showing some of these films during its weekend-long film fest.

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Marc Porter finishes doc courses at WVSU

Friday, May 18th, 2007

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Porter got his Ph.D. in film from Indiana University, coming to WV shortly before I did. He left for a while and returned, first to the University of Charleston and then WVSU, working for the only real film school in the state. In spring 2007 he taught two films on the documentary - one on its history, another on production. I loaned him about 20 films from my own collection, and he made good use of them….

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More on WV filmmaker Shawn Bennett and “Battle of Local 5668″

Tuesday, May 15th, 2007

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Parkersburg native Shawn Bennettis leading a new generation of WV filmmakers interested in understanding our state’s difficult past. His new film  “The Battle of Local 5668″is a masterpiece, surpassing Barbara Kopple’s own film on the same subject, “Locked Out in America.” It too is an excellent film.

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Bernice Basham, Leading Supporter of WV Films - and Flowers

Monday, May 14th, 2007

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Bernice Basham is a very rare, kind, and intelligent person. During the last two years she has attended almost every showing of the WV Film Series at The South Charleston Museum. She has even attended some of the dinners given before the films at the unofficial official restaurant for the series, The Main Tin in South Charleston. As a native of Rainelle, she has a deep affection for the many stories about WV.

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WV Labor Film Night a Triumph

Sunday, May 13th, 2007

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Shawn Bennett of Parkersburg and Louis Argeo of Madrid introduced their two new films about labor history at The South Charleston Museum on Saturday night to an audience of more than sixty.

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Libertarians, Anarchists & Movies in WV

Friday, May 11th, 2007

poochiebobmakingcarsgarage.jpgKarl Hess, one of the founders of the modern Libertarian Party, was a good friend of mine during his last days. He was the keynote speaker for a University of Charleston course called “Living Philosophers.” There is a great film about Karl that won an Oscar - “Karl Hess : Toward Liberty .” The 1979 film is available on VHS from any local public library in WV from the WV Library Commission. You can also watch it on YouTube. (more…)

World premiere of doc on librarians - I was advisor

Thursday, May 10th, 2007

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Ann Seidl’s full-length feature documentary, “The Hollywood Librarian: A Look at Librarians on Film,” will premiere at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., on June 22. The film shows the realities of 21st-century librarianship, including stereotyping, censorship and intellectual freedom, and the impact of librarians on society. (more…)

Jacob Young’s Picts of JescoFest 2006

Wednesday, May 9th, 2007

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Jacob Young took these great pictures at the Jescofest last summer in Southern WV. I thought that it would be great to finally post them…..thanks Jake…… (more…)

Three WV-produced films win awards at Houston

Wednesday, May 9th, 2007

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Terry Lively and Deborah Novak, two WV women filmmakers,  won awards at the 2007 Houston Worldfest Film Festival, celebrating 40 years. Tim Radford of the National Park Service also won an award for his film, “Never Lose Sight of Freedom.” Lively and Radford won gold awards; Novak received a platinum.   The prizes mean this - Platinum (


First Place

), Gold (Second), Silver (Third) and Bronze (Fourth).  The awards are called REMI awards in honor of Remington. (more…)