Celebrating 50 years of Filmmaking in Appalachia

Please join us on Saturday, April 6, 2019 at 2:00pm for a director's talk and film screening with Mimi Pickering of Appalshop. We will be screening Hazel Dickens: Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song, an intimate film portrait of the legendary singer, who grew up in the coalfields of SWVA and West Virginia, and whose powerful songs of hard work, hard times and hardy souls have influenced generations of musicians, including Alison Krauss and Naomi Judd, both of whom are interviewed in the film. Hailed as a ‘national treasure’, Hazel Dickens was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2001. The film’s director, Mimi Pickering, will give a talk before the screening and answer questions afterward. She will also show and discuss her first film, from 1971, ''The Struggle of Coon Branch,'' which tells the story of a community’s determination to bring public transportation to their mountain so that their children can attend school. This short, 13-minute film will be of particular interest to followers of Don and Ellen Elmes, who figure prominently in the film, showing a part of their life story. Afterward, Ellen, Don and Mimi will answer questions about the film.