Pare Lorentz, born in Clarksburg, WV, raised in Buckhannon, made several of the most important documentaries ever made. One of them is his official film of the Nuremberg Trials that uses some of the Nazi’s own footage.  Facets Multimedia in Chicago is now selling the DVD. Lorentz told me in person that he was for a while in charge of de-Nazifying the German art world. I have not read anything in print about this subject, but I am sure his story would have been fascinating. ( There are several films about the subject of the art world as controlled by the Nazis, most famously the film “Mephisto.”)

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An historic marker for the town of Lorentz, named after Pare’s ancestor. A scene of the family land taken from the Lorentz clan is shown in “The River.” His ancestor was a supporter of the Confederacy. Lorentz once wrote an article about WV called “WV - Son of a Bastard Rape.”

Burning the Future - Coal in America was given the 2008 Pare Lorentz Award on November 21, 2008 by the International Documentary Association. Pare Lorentz was famous as FDR’s filmmaker and was born and raised in West Virginia. This is the first WV-linked film to win the prestigious international documentary award given to a social activist film each year. (more…)

Bob Gates, one of WV’s leading independent filmmakers, dropped off a VHS copy of his newest film, “40 Years: The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.” I found the 58 minute documentary to be fascinating, including interviews not only with the founders of WV’s oldest environmental organization but also many other WV activists from a wide spectrum of activities. Below is Bob Gates’ extended description of his important new film.

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Sam Holdren is a WVSU film grad who recently received his MFA in film from Temple University. At the 2008 WV International Film Festival he presented three recent films he has worked on - “Play,” “Audition” and “Paradigm Shift.” I had previously seen the first two, and finally got to see “Paradigm Shift” this weekend. I thought that it was one of the best short films I have seen in a long time and certainly worthy of the awards it has recently received.

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The Cinema Guild of NYC announced this week that they will be distributing Shawn Bennett’s award-winning film about the Ravenswood Lockout. The film won “best documentary” at the 2007 WV Filmmakers Festival in Sutton. Bennett was also chosen as the 2008 WV Filmmaker of the Year. Below is the announcement from The Cinema Guild. I recently wrote Shawn that I hope a lot more people will get to see his first-class film. Now they will… (more…)

One of the first major newspaper  stories on my work in WV - Charleston Sunday Gazette, June 27, 1982 standing in front of the Cultural Center

WVLC Film Services existed as a division of The WV Library Commission from 1976-98. Founded by librarian Steve Christo, federal funds were used to create the last 16 mm film library in the world. I came to WV in September 1978 and was director until 1998 when the department was folded into Library Services. I ran across these pictures and documents recently, and thought they were were posting for people to see.

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Charles Cohen, a Baltimore filmmaker, is working on a film about WV musician Dave Bing. He called me recently  in hopes of finding funds, either in WV or outside, to complete his film. I suggested he contact the usual funders of WV films - the WV Humanities Council or the WV Commission on the Arts. I also suggested that he contact Gerald Milnes at the Augusta Heritage Festival, the man who has filmed more WV musicians than anyone. If anyone is interested in helping Cohen with his film, contact him at - ccohen1330@gmail.com.

March 28, 2005 published in Counterpoise magazine 2005

Several years ago when Zeitgeist Films released its feature documentary on French-American philosopher Derrida (2002), I started to believe that a golden age of films about philosophy and philosophers had begun.  I had been waiting since 1968 when I first began studying philosophy, and spending my weekends at the University Film Society, to see powerful films that utilized its many techniques to explore the many people and ideas that have created the hyper-exciting world of philosophy. Finally my expectations have been fulfilled. (more…)

Zeitgeist Films sent me a  postcard telling me that I could download their latest catalog on-line. As I was doing so, I noticed that they were celebrating their 20th anniversary (as I have celebrated my 30th in WV.) The 2008 WV Intl. Film Festival just presented their great new Chinese film, “Up the Yangtze” which I reviewed a while ago in this column. In January 2008 the WV Jewish Film Festival  presented another one of their great films, even before it was shown in NYC, “Jellyfish.” ( The WVJFF previously showed their Oscar-winning “Nowhere in Africa” and the Oscar-nominated film “Sophie Scholl.”) This film company is truly one of the very best distributors of films in the US and world. I have tried to see everyone one of their films, and for a decade, I purchased most of them for WVLC. Congrats to everyone at Zeitgeist Films for 20 years of real service to the best side of the human race. (more…)

The West Virginia Sierra Club is sponsoring a night of films about WV’s coal economy on Saturday, November 22, 2008 at The WV Cultural Center, Charleston. The film are about -   The Impact of Coal on Our Air, Water, Climate, People, and Communities. I have seen all of the films and they are all very well made. The South Charleston Museum programmed local premiere of - “Mountain Mourning” and “Black Diamonds.”  “Bringing Down the Mountains” is a very high quality short film by high school students in Pennsylvania that has not been shown locally previously. Admission is FREE.   (more…)