World premiere of new film about coalmining at SCM last January
The West Virginia Chapter of The Sierra Club will be presenting 7 hour long coal films festivals around the state - in Morgantown, Shepherdstown and Charleston- this fall . I ran across this information while looking for film-related events on the OVEC Events Calender.
Ray Schmitt in NYC, attending the NY Film Academy - always willing to learn
Ray Schmitt continues to produce great films even after a devastating year of loss and medical problems. His latest film, “Dead Girl Walking,” is an honest film about a young woman recovering from breast cancer. She is also a musician/singer and a very energetic person. You can now see the preview on line.
Iris Bell passed away on April 19th, 2008 at the age of 74. Thanks to her three daughters and filmmaker Kelley Thompson there is a permanent record of her life. At a memorial service held in May on the West Side of Charleston, April Pierson-Keating gave one of the best eulogies for a mother I have ever heard. Iris’ three daughters, besides April, are Terry and Elizabeth Bell. Other family and friends spoke about their love for Iris and musicians performed her music.
Ken Farmer in front of the South Charleston Museum last fall after a busy day
The South Charleston Museum will be presenting one of America’s leading antique appraisers, Ken Farmer, for the fifth time. The event will take place on Saturday, October 11th, from 9 AM to 5 PM. Mr. Farmer has sold out every year so attendees are recommended to come early. Doors will open at 8:45 AM for registration. Food and drinks will be available in the lobby of The La Belle Theater where the event will take place. (more…)
Poster for Kelley Thompson’s Widen Film Project
West Virginia has a dramatic history, especially in the area of labor. Since 1978 I have been fairly obsessed with purchasing, promoting, and exhibiting all known films about WV labor history. When I flew from Minneapolis to Charleston in September 1978 there was a new 16 mm print of “Harlan County, USA” sitting in my office. A few months earlier I had met Barbara Kopple, the director, at the American Film and Video Festival in NYC. I had also seen the film, staggering out of the Minnesota movie house after watching what hell Appalachians had to endure just to get a shred of dignity working as virtual slaves in its coal mines. I was a member of two unions in Minnesota - one for Minnesota Highway Department employees, another for nursing assistants in nursing homes.
Farmington Mine Disaster photo from WV State Archives
Richard Fauss and the staff of the WV State Archives have continued to post streaming video of many of WV most important historical events including labor history events. Be sure to visit their site and watch these films showing landmark events in our state’s history.
Seth Martin directed “Johnny Boy,” his own “Reservoir Dogs,” set in Huntington, WV. For 80 minutes we watch a film that shows the underbelly of a town now famous for a lot of real murders and drug busts. Like my friend Allen Toney said, “You can stand on some corners in Huntington and just watch the murders and mayhem….” ( He himself had to shoot a fellow who broke into his downtown loft, saving himself from possible murder. I saw the giant stain from the pool of blood that the intruder left behind, almost next door to the public library.) The film was shown at The Appalachian Film Festival in Huntington this spring and at the 2008 Spring WV International Film Festival Student Film Festival here in Charleston. If you like action, and low-lifes, this is your film!
Paden City Public Library director Sharon Kastigar and Eagles president Jesse King showing programs for earlier Paden City Labor Film Festivals
The Paden City Fraternal Order of the Eagles along with the Paden City Public Library will be sponsoring its fourth annual Labor Day Film Festival on Labor Day weekend at the Club, across the street from the Paden City Public Library. The festival is officially endorsed by the board of the West Virginia Labor History Association. It is now listed by the DC Labor Film Fest along with other labor film fests around the country and world.
Peter Argentine, the director of “Monongah Remembers,” will be present to introduce his film, “Monongah Remembered.” Mr. Argentine is hoping to expand the film to 55 minutes, including some of the other footage he has already shot. (more…)
John Gianvito has created a truly rare masterpiece of a film with his 2007 55 minute experimental documentary, “Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind.” The film shows historical markers, grave sites, and other markers for many of the true heroes of American history as described by Howard Zinn in his landmark, “A People’s History of the United States.” Without narration, the film goes on a cross-country tour of sites showing where Native Americans fought and died for their people, where Americans who believed in justice died fighting for it, and most interestingly to me, shows the graves of some of the people who died fighting for unions.
Zeitgeist Films of NYC is releasing “Up the Yangtze,” a compelling new documentary about China in the 21st century. It uses the Yangtze River as the metaphor for change, comparing the building of the world’s largest dam,the Three Gorges Dam, with the life of a poor rural girl who is trying to advance her position in life by working on a tourist river boat. The ugly American tourists are only matched by some of the young Chinese who confess that they want all the money they can accumulate.
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