Elizabeth Tackett, director of the Buffalo Creek Memorial Library in Man, West Virginia commemorated the 36th anniversary of the Buffalo Creek Disaster on February 26th with the unveiling of a painting by J.R. Shuck called “Buffalo Creek Survivors.” Two years ago the library presented Mimi Pickering, the director of two documentaries about the landmark flood, “Buffalo Creek- An Act of Man” and “Buffalo Creek Revisited,” showing the film to hundreds at the local high school.  

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Gardner in a cave with camera man

Janet Gardner, the sister of former WV educational film mogul, Ty Gardner, contacted me about a new film she has directed about the long-term effects of Agent Orange on both the people of Viet Nam and plant workers in the Kanawha Valley. ( I once showed a film called “Agent Orange” to lawyers involved in some case, perhaps this one. It had a few scenes of the Nitro plant.) Hopefully the film will be shown somewhere in the Kanawha Valley in the next few months. ( Ty still owns an educational film company, Jaguar Educational, based in Charleston that was the descendant of Cambridge Educational after it was sold to a NY conglomerate, Primedia. He however lives in Florida.) (more…)

Denise Giardina, B.J. Gudmundsson and Terry Lively at world premiere of “Rise Up! West Virginia”, South Charleston Museum, La Belle Theater, January 12

   At 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 28 the Ansted Historical Preservation Council  presented the documentary “Rise Up! West Virginia” at the VFW Hall on US Rt. 60 in Ansted. The screening was free and open to the public. “Rise Up! West Virginia” directed by B.J. Gudmundsson of Lewisburg, is a road trip to understanding the effects of mountaintop removal coal mining on the people and communities in southern West Virginia. Gudmundsson’s journey begins on Kayford Mountain where 8,000 acres of forestland has been completely destroyed. Here is BJ’s report on the event…

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Gary Simmons has been making documentary films in WV for more than 20 years. He has made biographies of Buck Harless (film never released) and Jon McBride (VHS copies available from WVLC as “Jon McBride, Astronaught.”)  In 1997, he made a four-part series called ‘The Rock That Burns” with Dr. Stuart McGehee, chairman of the history dept. at WV State University in Institute and a frequently interviewed expert on the history of coal mining in WV. ( You can see him in Enoch Hick’s new DVD, “The Rock that Burns - Coal.”) Simmons is presently working on a series of films about WV since WW II. Here is a description of the four-part series that aired at least once on WVPBS. WVLC has a VHS copy of the series. (more…)

David Novack for whatever reason was unable to premiere “Burning the Future - Coal in America, “ his new feature documentary about mountaintop removal mining,  at Sundance ( I don’t think any film about MTR has been accepted there so far…..I wonder why?) but he is premiering it TODAY in NYC. 

 Here is a message I received from him this morning plus links to great reviews from the NY Times and Variety. The film will open next Friday in LA. OVEC and others are working on a WV premiere soon.

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Francesca E. Karle ( On The River’s Edge-2005) will present the World Premiere of her film Back to The Bottle, a docu-drama on alcohol addiction on Thursday, April 17, 2008at the Keith Albee Performing Arts Center. This is the feature film for the opening night of the Appalachian Film Festival as well. (more…)