A Filmic Visit by Prof. Burriss from Radford University
Professor Burriss visits The WV Cultural Center
Professor Theresa Burriss (tburriss@RADFORD.EDU) drove from Radford, Virginia to the Kanawha Valley on Thursday, January 20th, to interview Norman Jordan in Malden at the Norton House where part of his photographic exhibit is being shown during the first two weekends of each month. She also made a brief visit to the WV Library Commission to met me and borrow some films from the world’s largest collection of films on WV.
Earlier in the day I went through my collection looking for items in the following categories - 1. Most important WV films. 2. Black history films of WV 3. Classic Appalachian/WV films. 4. WV films on domestic violence. She left my office with 23 films….which will take her a while to watch.
1. Most important WV films - included films such as Gerald Milnes “Signs, Cures and Witchery,” Judy Miller’s “The Captives” on Mary Ingles, “The Fifth String” with Dwight Diller, the only feature on Pearl Buck, “East Wind, West Wind,” and Bill Richardson’s “Mine Wars.” Other titles include “Dental Farmer” that won top honors at the first Rural Route Film Festival, Ray Schmitt’s “Mountain Memories,” WV’s best animated film, ” The Griffin and the Minor Canon,” and “The Abby Spirit” about WV actress Abby Wathen. I also loaned her a copy of the new very important WV labor film, “The Battle of Local 5668.”
2. Black history films. I had already sent her a copy of the film about Norman Jordan, “Dead Ends, New Dreams” about his life as a leading poet in Cleveland. I also loaned her the two best films on West Virginia during slavery, Daniel Boyd and Bob Mazlowski’s “Red Salt and Reynolds” and “Ghosts of Green Bottom.” She borrowed Boyd’s film “Duara,” the award winning film about AIDS in Tanzania he produced, and she had to see the film on Anne Spencer that is part of the “GardenStory” DVD.
3. Classic Appalachian/WV films - Pref. Burriss had never had a chance to see Joris Iven’s “Misery in the Borinage,”(not available on DVD as far as I know) the first major film about coal miners or Frontier Film’s “People of the Cumberland.” ( I once showed this to Les Blank during a visit. Elia Kazan, famous Hollywood director, worked on this film. Also not available on DVD as far as I know. WVLC purchased 16 mm versions decades ago and they were never available on VHS.) She had never heard of “Tol’able David,” the famous 1921 film made near Radford that is about dangerous West Virginians terrorizing a Virginia clan. She borrowed the newly released version of Pare Lorentz’s two Depression Era films, “The Plow that Broke the Plains” and “The River.” She also borrowed the 2007 DVD of Robert Gates’ 1978 “In Memory of the Land and People.”
4. WV films on domestic violence. Burriss was recently writing an article on the subject of domestic violence so I loaned her Appalshop’s “Shelter” that focuses on a shelter in Lewisburg. She borrowed “Correct Change,” the 2002 indie feature about a street prostitute in Charleston, Jude Binder’s recent great artistic film on the subject, “Field of Flowers” and the film version of Dan Kehde’s play, “A Service for Jeremy.”
During the last 30 years I have reviewed every possible film I could find about West Virginia, searching the web and everywhere else I could to find the films often produced by people I don’t know, e.g., Sasha Waters’ “Razing Appalachia.” Many others I have assisted with in some way, doing research, programming a showing, or just reviewing for Graffiti or the Charleston Gazette.
I think that West Virginia’s filmmakers know that by sending me a copy, I will tell the rest of the world about their work, and maybe even get someone to buy a copy. Fortunately, I am often able to loan scholars such as Professor Burriss copies of rare WV/Appalachian films. Hopefully she will even purchase some of the new films for the media center at Radford University which she directs.
On February 9th Norman Jordan will be giving a program at The WV Cultural Center. More info to come….
Besides directing the learning resource center, she is a professor of English and Appalachian studies. She brought WV history hero Wess Harris, publisher of “When Miners March” to her campus last fall to speak on the Battle of Blair Mountain.
She is the contributing senior editor of “Pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture” (she wrote her Ph.D. thesis on Affrilachian - African-American Appalachian culture), she is writing a book called “Woman of Change, Woman of Courage.” She has already interviewed Joan C. Browing and many other women for the book, and plans on putting some information about predecessors like Ma Blizzard in it.
Theresa with me outside my cubicle.
