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Asra Nomani and Standing Alone in
Mecca
: An American Woman's Struggle for
the Soul of Islam
50
mins. ABC News, Nightline
Asra
Nomani was raised a Moslem in
Morgantown
,
WV
. Her father was a WVU professor, and her mother owned a clothing
boutique. As a Wall Street Journal reporter, she traveled the
world. In 2005 she published Standing Alone in
Mecca
: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam and in 2004 she
published Tantrika : Traveling the Road of Divine Love. This Nightline
episode talks to her about her life in WV where she faced repression for
being a woman at the mosque and her thoughts on women and Islam. Access:
ABC Nightline -http://www.abcnewsstore.com/
The code is N050520 01 and the cost is $29.95.
Buckwheat and Ralph
28
mins. 2004 Real Earth Productions
Ralph
Hartman was a young boy living down the road from filmmaker Ray Schmitt.
Schmitt used to see Ralph driving a tractor along the country road when
he was only 5 or 6 years old. Buckwheat was Ralph's pet German shepherd.
It was filmed over the course of a year and reflects the changing
seasons, the tranquility of a mountain valley farm in
Hardy County
,
West Virginia
, and the relationship of a young boy with his dog and horses. Access:
Real Earth Productions
Cancer Stories: Lessons in Love, Loss and Hope
55
mins. 2003
Reed
School
of Journalism, WVU and WVPBS
Maryanne
Reed, acting dean of WVU's P.I. Reed School of Journalism, and
Instructor Clint Wilhelm produced, wrote, and directed this documentary
about five West Virginians facing and fighting cancer. Journalism
students did most of the shooting and interviewing. They were given
complete access to videotape appointments, treatments, even surgeries.
The various forms of therapy - surgery, chemotherapy and radiation -
were all done at the
WVU
Mary
Babbs
Randolph
Cancer
Center
in
Morgantown
. The first person portrayed is Pam Tsuhlares, an artist, whose family
includes 12 women who died from cancer. Her husband and one sister talk
about how much they love and appreciate her. Jennifer and her husband
have two young children. Since Pam
lost her own mother to cancer while she was growing up, she feels that
she is their "worst enemy." Tim Grounds is working class and
lives in a trailer house. He and his wife recently split up so when he
gets a diagnosis of skin cancer he has to struggle without her support.
However, he does have friends in Keyser, so he moves his family there.
He takes his two young children to the beach and fishing, trying to
enjoy every moment he can while he can. He continues smoking, and his
skin cancer returns so he has to have another operation. Like Pam he has
to do the best he can to help his kids with their homework and make
meals. Luckily, he has his Keyser friends. Cindy Drummond is a
32-year-old clinical nurse who is diagnosed with breast cancer. She also
has two young children - boys 2 and 4 years old. She keeps working, and
realizes what her patients are going through. After a growth is found in
her other breast, she is "terrified the cancer has returned,"
but learns latter that the tumor is not malignant. Brenda White has
second stage ovarian cancer. She is lucky that it was found before it
had spread. Her husband is her main support, doing the necessary
housework to help her endure. Finally, we meet Geraldine Thomas who
turns 75 during the film. She lives in Summersville and is diagnosed
with lung cancer. She has 5 children and 16 grandchildren who help her
during her trials. She is known as always being full of laughter, even
bringing joy to her doctors and nurses. She died finally - whereas the
other patients were still alive in 2003 when the film was finished. The
best message from this film is that cancer is not a death sentence, and
in this case only one of the patients dies during the two years of
filming. The NY Times had a story about the need to reorient
medicine toward the survivors of cancer, not just the victims. There are
millions of people who have survived cancer, even ones who are often
diagnosed terminal. This film reinforces the feeling that there is
always hope. Various
School
of
Journalism
students give their feelings about working on the project, talking about
their own relatives dying from the disease that has recently replaced
heart disease as the biggest cause of death in the
U.S.
All of the students had to face their own fears along with the subjects
they were filming. One of the doctors even shows some emotion about the
experience. Access: The book, which includes a DVD of the documentary,
is available for $40 from the WVU Press at http://www.wvupress.com
by calling 866-988-7737.
Getting Over Arnette
25
min. 1997 WNPB-TV
What
do you do to distract yourself from the impossibly agonizing pain of
romantic heartbreak?
West Virginia
author Pinckney Benedict (Town Smokes, Dogs of God)
answers this question with unexpectedly bizarre twists. From the opening
twang of Hank Williams' "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" to the end
credit's defiant "Hard Headed Woman" by Wanda Jackson, this
drama creates a rockabilly lovesick world of trailer courts, bowling
alleys, and bars. WVU theater professor Jerry McGonigle directed the
film adaptation and Laura Benedict wrote the screenplay. Access: John
Nakashima, WVPBS
The Gift Horse
25
min. 1997 WVPB TV
Tom
Nicholson, director of "Gilligan's
Appalachia
", directed this film adaptation of Denise Giardini's original
screenplay. Ansel Sizemore wins the lottery, wanting to donate the money
for a music hall in
Charleston
. The one condition is that it must be named after his father, Ertel
"Froggy" Sizemore. The local art administrators are torn
between the money and the "wrong name" for the local temple of
high culture. Wickedly funny and
poignant.
Access: WVLC
Ghosts of Green Bottom
28
mins. 2004
Director
Daniel Boyd and executive producer Robert Maslowski created Red Salt
and Reynolds in 2003. Maslowski retired from the U.S. Army Corp of
Engineers in 2004. This is their second award-winning film on WV
archaeology. In 1825, William
Jenkins did the unthinkable. He crossed the rugged Appalachians to
establish a Southern-style plantation on the wilderness fringe of
Western Virginia
. At its peak in the mid-1800s, the sprawling estate employed around
eighty slaves working seventeen hundred acres of rich
Ohio River
bottomland. Being loyal Virginians, the family cast its lot with the
Confederacy during the Civil War. Their actions would trigger a series
of fateful events that ended the plantation lifestyle and nearly
destroyed the family's once-proud legacy. Over a century later all that
remained of this massive enterprise was the family home. With the
support of the US Army Corps of Engineers, a team of archeologists
turned a lot of dirt to rediscover the past and help interpret this lost
era in American history. Traditional research and modern archaeology
combine to reveal the Ghosts of Green Bottom.
Access: http://www.danielboyd.com/big.htm
He Went About Doing Good
47
mins. 2005 PatchWork Films
The
title comes from the Bible - Acts 10:38. The
Reverend Carl W. Renick, Sr. was born in
Lewisburg
,
West Virginia
, on March 12, 1913. As a
boy he delivered groceries for local merchants while attending
elementary school. At last, a high school for blacks was opened in
Greenbrier
County
, and Carl Wayland Renick was able to finish school graduating with the
first Class of Bolling High School in 1936 at the age of 22.
By working summers at The Greenbrier, he was able to save money
to go to college and graduated from Negro
North Carolina
A&T in 1942. It was there that
he met and married Miss Edna Tonkins. In 1950, they returned to
Lewisburg, where Carl worked at The Greenbrier and made the decision to
enter the ministry. He was
ordained in 1960 and spent the next 21 years pastoring at Methodist
churches in
West Virginia
and
Virginia
. After nine years at Calloway UMC
in
Arlington
,
VA
, Rev. Renick retired and came home to Lewisburg where he is Pastor
Emeritus at the church of his youth,
John
Wesley
United
Methodist
Church
. Produced and directed by B.J. Gudmundsson. Executive produced by Joan
C. Browning. The world premiere took place in Lewisburg in March 2005.
Access: PatchWork Films, http://www.patchworkfilms.com
In the Ringer
45
mins. 2005
WV
filmmaker and professor Daniel Boyd is in for the shock of his life when
he takes his family to a pro-wrestling event and finds himself going
from spectator to participant. Little does he know that 4-time XMCW
champion, Mister X, has been carrying a bitter 16-year grudge for not
being cast as a child actor in Boyd's 1988 feature film Chillers.
That fateful day spurs a wild, five month course of events with X and
his evil entourage that will lead Boyd from being the oldest man in XMCW
history to win the XIC belt, to being scarred for life in the brutal
aftermath of the title defense. The film documents the agony and the
ecstasy of a fan forced inside the cruel, real world of professional
wrestling. Access: http://www.danielboyd.com/big.htm
James Boudjema Merzouk -
Braxton
County
Legend
53
mins. 2005
Sandy
Sowell, a well-known singer and artist in the
Charleston
area, was commissioned to make a film about an amazing man. He was born
in North Africa, ended up in
West Virginia
becoming a boxer, and then a Spanish and French teacher at
Braxton
County
High School
for 30 years. Greg Carroll, a historian in WV Archives, narrates.
Access: Sandy Sowell
Jesse the Jackhammer - The Documentary
25
mins. 2005 Crowza.com
Jesse
is billed as "the Jesco White of the wrestling world" in WV.
Like the "Dancing Outlaw," he may not succeed, but he always
keeps trying. Jesse Mitchell is 29 and grew up in
Kentucky
. He came to WV ten years ago, becoming part of the local wrestling
scene. "Crowza", real name Edward Crouser, is a native of
Dunbar
,
West Virginia
. He is 29 years old and has been on the independent professional
wrestling circuit for a total of 9 years. His first exposure came
through professional wrestling journalism. He later expanded into the
sport itself by becoming a referee and later a wrestler and manager. He
has worked in several different federations in the tri-state area over
the years. He is currently working in the IWA East Coast, a promotion
dedicated to bringing in the top talent from all over the professional
wrestling world to
West Virginia
. When he is not wrestling, he works as an IT Manager and website
designer. He co-directed the film with local student filmmaker,
Christian Harper. Access: http://www.crowza.com
King of Stink
55
mins. 2005
The
arrival of this wild leek of Appalachia (allium tricoccum) is celebrated
each spring with festivals and community ramp suppers in the high
mountain regions of
North Carolina
,
Tennessee
, and both
Virginias
. Come along on a tour of a dozen of these festivals. What at first
appears to be only a relic of time-honored foraging from the wild and
fond memories of Mama making-do for her poor family transforms into
today's popular annual fundraising feasts that herald the true arrival
of spring. Modern gourmet chefs and adventurous "foodies" are
now discovering what the mountain folk have known all along. "The
ramp is a good herb," and good for what ails you. Access: Golden
Lion Media. http://www.goldenlionmedia.com/
Lake
Forest
103
mins. 2005
Lake Forest is a world inside of another. It revolves around the
lives of Blair Harding (Eric Lee) and Ashley Brown (Ashley Courtland
Stinnett) in one bizarre sub-reality after another. It throws the
audience into the delusions from the start after it begins in
Lake Forest
Psychiatric Hospital
. The two patients then experience a string of nightmares that leave the
audience taking the same ride. The drugs, the murders, the horrors
inside Blair's grandfather's house, are all products of this medicinal
induced world of insanity. As the movie roller coasters from one
hallucination into the next, the two encounter a drug deal gone bad, a
series of murders, and one psychotic family out for vengeance. Filmed in
Huntington
and the local area plus
Ohio
, it has been compared to the works of Wes Craven. Not rated but
contains adult language and situations. Eric Lee wrote, directed, and
starred in the film. Access: Ashley Stinnett at - Cheep Thrills Media
Productions / Ten Dollar Movie Company P.O. Box 1147 Lavalette, WV 25535
304-544-6740 mailto:ACSCJ1980@aol.com
The Last Campaign
107
mins. 2005 Wayne Ewing Productions
A
unique documentary that combines footage from Mr. Ewing's first film, If
Elected (1972) that profiled WV politician Warren McGraw's Raleigh
County race against coalmine owner Tracy Hylton with footage of McGraw's
primary and general election races in 2004. The overwhelming power of
corporate money in contemporary elections is shown. McGraw beat Hylton
when he was outspent 10 to 1. In 2004 he lost when he was outspent 100
to 1. These funds were spent
airing the meanest attack ads in American political history.
Access: http://www.thelastcampaign.com
Martha and Me
7
mins. 2005
Charleston
filmmaker Dennis Strom
tells the story of his wintry, five-month journey back and forth
to
Alderson
,
West Virginia
, covering Martha Stewart's incarceration for a TV entertainment news
show. It's a light-hearted look at what happens when swarms of media
converge at a rural intersection near the main gate of Alderson Prison.
Although the cameras are there to "get the shot" of Martha
entering the prison, it soon becomes apparent that the more interesting
story is the media itself and its impact on Alderson. And vice-versa. It
is a montage of interviews with media personalities and local people as
well as footage shot in and around Alderson. It is also currently
entered in film contests, one of which is A&E's "$25,000 Finish
Your Documentary" contest. Access:
Dennis Strom, ARTISTROM@aol.com
Mixed Martial Arts in
West Virginia
15
mins. 2004 Kevin Carpenter
In
modern times no sport has revolutionized the way our police and military
trains hand-to-hand combat as much as the new sport of Mixed Martial
Arts. A new style of fighting was introduced to the world in the first
Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993. Royce Gracie using Brazilian Jiu
Jitsu defeated all comers; size and fighting style did not matter. He
repeated the feat in two more UFCs, proving that his wins were not a
fluke. Martial Arts is a combination of boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai,
Jiu Jitsu, and other combat disciplines. These morphs of fighting,
knowledge with rules that protect fights from danger, have made MMA a
sensation worldwide. This film looks into the issues of
West Virginia
promoters, fighters, and regulators. Royce Gracie, often referred to the
Muhammad Ali of MMA, gives us a unique perspective of the sport. The WV
Athletic Commission raises interesting questions and concerns about the
sport. Access: Kevin
Carpenter at elkhotel@elkhotel.com
The Oktoberfest Gathering
95
mins. 2005
For
over 30 years filmmakers Ray and Judy Schmitt have been hosting an
Oktoberfest Gathering at their farm in
Mathias
,
WV
. The idea originated in
1974 when the Schmitt's wanted to thank friends who helped them convert
an old sheep barn into a weekend getaway.
Their friends invited other friends, and when the children grew
up and went away to college, many of them continued coming back each
year. People camp out for as many
as 5 days in the meadow, and the gatherings are highlighted by a potluck
BBQ supper and bluegrass and acoustic jam sessions lasting late into the
night. In 2004 folks came from as
far away as Washington State, Arizona, Nevada, Florida, New York, North
Carolina, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and DC, as well as
many local West Virginians. The
2004 Oktoberfest Gathering was celebrated with a "lawn
concert" on a hay wagon and commemorative T-shirts. Many fine
musicians participated in this event which was recorded live. The
documentary also contains archival film and still photos from previous
years. Access: Real Earth
Productions
On the River's Edge
85
mins. 2005
Francesca
Karle, a 17-year-old
Chesapeake
,
Ohio, High School student, decided to do her Girl Scout Gold Award
project on the homeless. She began filming during September 2004 using a
JVC camcorder. Her parents spent $1,000 on the tape and other costs. The
film follows the chronically homeless in the region - people who would
rather live on the streets or river's edge than stay in shelters.
Access: $25 for DVD bigfoot1@netacs.net
Paper Clips
82
mins. 2004
In
the small coal town of
Whitwell
,
Tennessee
, about 40 miles northwest of
Chattanooga
, a middle school class decided to investigate the Holocaust. During the
coming years, they receive worldwide fame - as well as more than 24
million paper clips. They save 6 million for the Jews who were murdered
and 5 million for Nazi's other victims including homosexuals, Roma
(gypsies), Catholics, and others. Some friends find and transport an
actual railroad car used to ship the victims to the camps where they
died. This railroad car is now a museum with the 11 million paper clips.
Chosen as one of the best documentaries by the National Board of Review
2004. Access - Swank Motion
Pictures http://www.paperclipsmovie.com/
Rabbit Hash - The Center of the Universe
90
mins. 2006 Echelon Entertainment
In
the style of Les Blank, Michael Moore, and Errol Morris, director Jude
Gerard Preset presents a humorous portrait of Rabbit Hash,
KK,
a small town on the
Ohio River
. The focus of the film is the town's election of a street dog, Goofy,
as mayor. The many characters that inhabit the town are also profiled.
Wynona Judd is the guest celebrity who seems to understand the ways of
the town. (She grew up nearby in
Ashland
,
KY
) Access - To purchase http://www.rabbithashthemovie.com
Return to the
Parlor
City
- The New
Martinsville
Story
32
mins. 1998 RBW Production
LeMoyne
Coffield and R.B. Wilson compiled footage about New Martinsville going
back to early days. There is narration, telling the audience who the
various people are and explaining what the locations are. Access - Jim
Fitzsimmons, 304-455-2134 New
Martinsville
Museum
So Here I Am.
2005
Ohio
Landscape Productions
Ora
Anderson
, now 93, was a journalist living in southeastern
Ohio
during the Great Depression. In this oral history, he recalls the
environmental and social conditions that led to the establishment of the
Wayne
National Forest
and our evolving relationship with the land. Along with historical
photographs and emotionally evocative music, Ora Anderson's first-hand
account gives life to a significant chapter of American history with
clarity, hope, and a uniquely Appalachian perspective. It was voted Best
Documentary (1st place) in the 2005 Appalachian Film Festival in
Huntington
. Access - http://www.ohiolandscape.org/ora.html
The
Soul of the Senate - Robert C. Byrd
55
mins. 2005 Motion Masters
A
biography of WV US senator Robert C. Byrd. Byrd was born Cornelius
Calvin Sale, Jr. on November 20th, 1917 in
Wilkesboro
,
NC.
His mother died and he was given to his mother's sister and her husband,
Vlurma and Titus Byrd. They adopted him and changed his name to Robert
Carlyle Byrd. His adopted father drove a horse-drawn wagon for a local
brewery in
Bluefield
, WV. He eventually graduated from high school in Stotesbury in
Raleigh
County
where he met his future wife, Erma. He learned to love music in high
school where he played the violin and bass drum. After working as a
butcher and grocer, he began his political career when he was elected to
the WV House of Delegates. He became the longest serving
U.S.
senator and challenged the Bush Administration's attack on the
separation of powers during the second Iraq War that began in March
2003. Access: every public library and school in WV has a copy. To
purchase a copy, contact Motion Masters.
Spring Night, Summer Night
82
mins. 1965
From
the Village Voice - A discomfiting drama of Appalachian poverty and
possible incest made in the mid '60s and unseen in the 35 years since it
screened at MOMA (and at drive-ins under the name Miss Jessica Is
Pregnant). Shooting on location in southeastern Ohio, with college
theater vets as the feuding young lovers who might share a dad, director
J.L. Anderson didn't seek to dispel hillbilly stereotypes any more
aggressively than, say, Shelby Lee Adams has. (Close-ups of gnawing and
slurping mouths abound.) It is like a slow swig of Blatz on a dusty
road-and maybe the missing link between Shadows and The Last
Picture Show. Shown at the 2005 Rural Routes Film Festival in NYC.
Standing on Holy Ground
62
mins. 2005 PatchWork Films
B.J.
Gudmundsson and Joan C. Browning continued what they began with He
Went About Doing Good with this film about Methodist minister Rev.
Dr. Patricia A Jarvis. Born the granddaughter of
West Virginia
's last Methodist circuit rider and relative of Anna Jarvis, the founder
of Mother's Day, she married Julian George Sulgit, Jr. in 1969. After
teaching for three years in
Sierra Leone
,
West Africa
, Patricia and Julian returned to WV. They worked at the Charleston
District Outreach Ministries, the integrated St. Stephen's United
Methodist
Church at
Coal
Branch
Heights
and Trinity United
Methodist
Church in Glenville. Upon completing their doctorates, they were
appointed the first husband and wife co-pastors of Trinity United
Methodist
Church in
Bluefield
, and finally,
Lewisburg
United
Methodist
Church
in
Greenbrier County
,
WV
. The film is a portrait of a family living a life of faith and a couple
with a strong commitment to social justice. Funded by the Lewisburg
United
Methodist
Church. Access - PatchWork Films http://www.patchworkfilms.com
Stephen King's The Road Virus Heads North
21
mins. 2004
WVSU
instructor David Brock, a native of
Logan County
,
WV
, adapted a Stephen King short story, setting it in Southern WV and
Ohio
. The film was Brock's MFA thesis film from
Ohio
University
. Richard Kinnell (obviously a Stephen King-type author) buys a
fascinating photograph at an estate sale. Using the technique of a
"living painting" from Oscar Wilde's "Picture of Dorian
Gray," Kinnell discovers that the photograph changes throughout the
night. He also hears people say terrible things - that they never said.
The images that he sees are terrible - and he fears for his own death.
Professionally done with good actors, film techniques, and music. Access
- Dave Brock, WVSU
Stonewall City- Voices of Gay West Virginians
45
mins. 2005
Huntington
filmmaker Layne Amerikaner has directed the first documentary about
people in
West Virginia
who grew up gay. Interviewing several people on various important
aspects of growing up gay in our rural state, some had a very difficult
time and some find
Huntington
a "mecca for gays." One interviewee was almost killed - maybe
for being gay, maybe not. Co-producer and technical adviser was Brnadon
Basham. Made in association with
Marshall
University
's Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Gender in Appalachia with
support from the Franklin and
Marshall
College
's Paul A. Mueller , Jr. Award. Narration by Diane Wellman. Website - http://www.marshall.edu/csega/index.asp
Access: lamerika@fandm.edu
UFOs in
Hardy
County
28
mins. 2005 Real Earth
Productions
Mathias,
Hardy County
,
WV
, filmmaker Ray Schmitt based this film on first-hand accounts of
strange phenomena seen in the
Lost
River
Valley
area of
Hardy
County
. Schmitt has been interviewing friends, neighbors, and other people for
several years about UFOs and other mysterious things they have been
seeing. People began contacting
Schmitt after they heard about the sci-fi film he made a few years ago
called The Lights. "Local
people began contacting me about what they had been seeing,"
Schmitt said. "Some agreed to
be interviewed on camera, but others wanted to remain anonymous.
What amazes me is that these stories take place in my 'own
backyard.' They are
absolutely incredible and beg for a scientific explanation," he
added. Access: Real Earth Productions
The Whole Hog - Traditional Butchering in
West Virginia
24
mins. 2005 Real Earth Productions
Ever
since early frontier times, families butchered their own hogs for food.
This practice is becoming increasingly rare today but is still practiced
with regularity in the
Lost
River
Valley
area of
Hardy County
,
West Virginia
. Families and friends get together for this all-day event which is
highlighted by a delicious country dinner. This film celebrates this
rural tradition and the people who practice it. The film is intended to
be interesting, educational and informative. Because of the nature of
this subject, some of the graphic images might not be suitable for young
children. Access - Real Earth Productions
Women's Miner Conference
25
mins. 1984 Appalshop
Women
coalminers from across the country came to West Virginia State College to hold meetings and seminars on the difficulties of
working as a coal miner. The Coal Employment Project based in
Jacksboro
,
Tenn.
, brought these women and experts together. Ann Lewis directed the film.
Access: WVLC, Appalshop
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