MORRISTOWN: in the air and sun 2007, 60:00
A working class response to globalization filmed over an 8-year period in the mountains of east Tennessee, interior Mexico, and Ciudad Juarez. Currently playing. See Events for current screenings. More info

TEXAS MAJORITY MINORITY 2004, 10:40
About the struggle to register Latino and African American voters in Texas and the disenfranchisement of thousands of voters which created a system of political apartheid. Includes Spanish version and excerpts of the last interview with Ed Wendler. More info

HIGH STAKES 2007, 14:00
An intimate look at the impact of high stakes testing on a predominantly Latino class of 5th graders and their teacher. More info

HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW 2003, 26:40
Ethel Caffie-Austin, West Virginia ’s first lady of gospel music, performs and teaches African American spirituals, hymns, and contemporary gospel songs. "Captures her in all her spendid humanity and holy devotion," Jude Binder, director Heartwood Dance Company
Dallas Film Festival; International Festival of Cinema and Technology: St. Louis Film Festival.

SHELTER 2001, 56:40
In 1974, three women opened the first shelter for battered women in this country. A grassroots movement not only saved lives but changed the way we think. Shelter follows four West Virginia survivors as they move towards lives of safety and dignity.
Trailer. ITVS web site.  New Jersey Film Festival; Philadelphia Film Festival; Great Lakes Film Festival; Kentucky Theater, University of Texas Bass Lecture Hall.

TO SAVE THE LAND AND PEOPLE 1999, 56:40 The Appalachian Group to Save the Land and People used every means possible, from legal petitions to guns and dynamite, to protect their land from strip mining. Oral history of a grassroots environmental movement. "A wonderfully human and good humored presentation of a major tragedy. Downright truth telling of a defeat without despair," --George Stoney, New York University. Jurors’ Award, Louisville Film and Video Festival 1999; screening, Texas Documentary Tour 1999; SXSW.

View clip from Rough Side of the Mountain.

ROUGH SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN 1999, 56:40 Community organizing and the "steel ceiling" encountered by two company towns -- Trammel and Ivanhoe, Virginia -- as they struggle to develop new economies. “Universal... should be seen by everyone concerned with community renewal and social justice.” –Hywel Francis, University of Wales-Swansea. Director's Citation, Black Maria Film and Video Festival; National Council on Foundations Film Festival; Louisville Film and Video Festival.

EVELYN WILLIAMS 1995, 26:40
Coal miner’s daughter and wife, mother of nine, domestic worker and community organizer whose awareness of class and race oppression led her to a lifetime of activism. View clip from Evelyn Williams.
Margaret Meade Film Festival; Black Maria Film Festival; National Organizers Alliance; Charlotte Film Festival; OWL screening for positive portrayal of older Americans; Sinking Creek Film Festival.

BELINDA (1993)
The AIDS advocate who spoke of the need for a collective response not crippled by homophobia, racism, fear, or ignorance.
CINE Golden Eagle Award; Big Muddy Film Festival; EarthPeace International Film Festival; New York Film Festival; USA Film Festival; Women in the Director’s Chair; National Educational Film Festival.

FAST FOOD WOMEN (1992)
An inside look at the lives of women who fry chicken, make pizzas, and flip burgers at four fast food restaurants in easter Kentucky. Documents the low wage, no benefits jobs in America's new service economy.
"A must-see look at the working poor," --Minnesota Star Tribune
International Labor Film and Video Festival, Seoul, South Korea; London Film Festival; American Film and Video Festival; Chicago International Film Festival; National Educational Film Festival; Sinking Creek Film Festival, Special Jury Award - 1992 USA Film Festival.  PBS National
Broadcast on P.O.V.; cablecast on The Learning Channel’s “The Independents: Through Her Eyes.”  

CHEMICAL VALLEY (1991, 56:40) with Mimi Pickering
Environmental justice and environmental racism in Institute, West Virginia where a chemical plant produces the same deadly toxins that killed at least 3,500 people in Bhopal, India.
"Remarkable interviews, sense of place... integrity and intelligence." -juror, American Film and Video Festival
Broadcast on P.O.V., Blue Ribbon, American Film and Video Festival; Best Environmental Film, EarthPeace International Film Festival; San Francisco International Film Festival; Women in Film Festival/AFI .

ON OUR OWN LAND 1989, 28:30 The citizens' movement to stop strip mining without the landowner's consent which resulted in an amendment to the Kentucky constitution.  "Illustrates a conflict that won’t go away, in which the texture of community is pitted against the drive towards profit at any cost... lets coal operators damn themselves with their own words." -Pat Aufderheide, In These Times 1990 Alfred I. DuPont/Columbia University Award for Independent Broadcast Journalism; American Film and Video Festival; Robert Flaherty Seminar. Read articles about censorship of the film. View clip from On Our Own Land.

READY FOR HARVEST, CLEARCUTTING IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS 1990, 28:30
Looks at a citizen's campaign against clearcutting North Carolina's native forests and alternative notions of forest management.
North American Association for Environmental Education; San Francisco Environmental Film Festival; INTERCOM 1994; Charlotte Film Festival; Sinking Creek Film Festival.

MORGAN SEXTON: BANJO PLAYER FROM BULL CREEK
About the National Heritage Award winner

YELLOW CREEK KENTUCKY 28:30, 1985
about a community's efforts to resolve a toxics issue.
American Film and Video Festival, Atlanta Film and Video Festival, NAAEE Film and Video Festival. Excerpt included in “The 90’s.”

MABEL PARKER HARDISON SMITH 1986, 28:30
African-American teacher in the coalfields for 35 years and gospel musician.
Anthros/the Barbara Myerhoff Film Festival; Atlanta Film and Video.

MINE WAR ON BLACKBERRY CREEK 28:30, 1986,
about the United Mine Workers strike against A.T. Massey Coal.
Global Village Festival; American Film and Video Festival; Big Muddy Film Festival; BACA/Brooklyn Arts Council.

PEACE STORIES
Experiences of three veterans from the south who decided that war is wrong

MUD CREEK CLINIC 28:30, 1987
about a primary health clinic organized by a welfare rights organization in eastern Kentucky.
Columbus Video Festival; Council on Foundations Film and Video Festival.

MINNIE BLACK'S GOURD BAND1989, 28:30
about a 90-year-old gourd artist and her senior citizen gourd band.
OWL award screening at the Retirement Research Foundation for positive portrayal of older Americans; screening at the Museum of Modern Art.

Hands on, So Was Einstein, Hard Times in the Country:the Schools, Roving Pickets, Yellow Creek, KY