April 25, 2010
Huntington’s Appy Film Fest Screens Poignant Portrait of Kentucky Mining Community that just Lost a Man in an Accident
Awards Ceremony Saturday 6:30 p.m.
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Entertainment Editor
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Much like “China Syndrome” benefited from a ‘meltdown’ shortly after its release, the Appalachian Film Festival on Friday, April 23 screened “Passenger Pigeons,” which premiered at the SXFX Festival in Texas.
The March premiere showing came March 13 and 16, but real-life tragedy has accented and punctuated the production set in the Appalachian coalfields of Eastern Kentucky. Amidst the beauty of the hills, an accident has occurred. Moses drives cross country back to the town he hated. Meanwhile, two suits representing the mining company head to the town to assist with the aftermath.
First time feature filmmaker, Martha Stephens grew up in the same area. Her film interweaves the miner’s death (a routine Appalachian occurrence) with four interwoven stories, including a big city activist arriving for a mountain top removal protest and a blossoming romance fostered by the one day vacation due to the miner’s passing.
Ironically, the ‘suits’ ask about methane gas levels in the script. But there are no network news trucks. After all, it’s only one man dead.
Stephens incorporated Appalachian historical tragedies into the story. The elementary school is just below a slurry dam. Of the two company men, one is retiring; the younger man replaces him. During a motel is full camp out, he learns vividly of what can occur when arriving at a widow’s home.
Describing her coming to the door in house shoes, carrying a rifle, and having 40 or 50 cats roaming the property, he offered condolences and petted a cat. During that split second, the woman slipped off her shoes, pointed the firearm to her mouth, and blew her head off.
Stephens chose the name “Passenger Pigeons” for the film as the pigeons are extinct and the Appalachian lifestyle itself is nearly buried too. Ironically, the tragedy near Beckley, WV April 5 brought increased meaning to the movie. In fact, you easily imagine the 29 real funerals affecting a little town such as this one.
Veteran filmmaker Danny Boyd commented on how “Pigeons” captures the 24 hours in the mountain community. He remarked that despite a miner’s death so many things are continuing to occur. No bitterness. No anger. No protests. Life goes on even as a burning urn is sent down a stream.
True, the film has “slow as molasses pacing, but from my perspective that simply reflects the sleepy, easy going, non-emotional aspects of the mountain ways, including the impromptu jam session in the back of a store.
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Huntington’s Appy Film Fest Screens Poignant Portrait of Kentucky Mining Community that just Lost a Man in an Accident
Awards Ceremony Saturday 6:30 p.m.
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Entertainment Editor
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Much like “China Syndrome” benefited from a ‘meltdown’ shortly after its release, the Appalachian Film Festival on Friday, April 23 screened “Passenger Pigeons,” which premiered at the SXFX Festival in Texas.
The March premiere showing came March 13 and 16, but real-life tragedy has accented and punctuated the production set in the Appalachian coalfields of Eastern Kentucky. Amidst the beauty of the hills, an accident has occurred. Moses drives cross country back to the town he hated. Meanwhile, two suits representing the mining company head to the town to assist with the aftermath.
First time feature filmmaker, Martha Stephens grew up in the same area. Her film interweaves the miner’s death (a routine Appalachian occurrence) with four interwoven stories, including a big city activist arriving for a mountain top removal protest and a blossoming romance fostered by the one day vacation due to the miner’s passing.
Ironically, the ‘suits’ ask about methane gas levels in the script. But there are no network news trucks. After all, it’s only one man dead.
Stephens incorporated Appalachian historical tragedies into the story. The elementary school is just below a slurry dam. Of the two company men, one is retiring; the younger man replaces him. During a motel is full camp out, he learns vividly of what can occur when arriving at a widow’s home.
Describing her coming to the door in house shoes, carrying a rifle, and having 40 or 50 cats roaming the property, he offered condolences and petted a cat. During that split second, the woman slipped off her shoes, pointed the firearm to her mouth, and blew her head off.
Stephens chose the name “Passenger Pigeons” for the film as the pigeons are extinct and the Appalachian lifestyle itself is nearly buried too. Ironically, the tragedy near Beckley, WV April 5 brought increased meaning to the movie. In fact, you easily imagine the 29 real funerals affecting a little town such as this one.
Veteran filmmaker Danny Boyd commented on how “Pigeons” captures the 24 hours in the mountain community. He remarked that despite a miner’s death so many things are continuing to occur. No bitterness. No anger. No protests. Life goes on even as a burning urn is sent down a stream.
True, the film has “slow as molasses pacing, but from my perspective that simply reflects the sleepy, easy going, non-emotional aspects of the mountain ways, including the impromptu jam session in the back of a store.
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