David Novack, director of “Burning the Future – Coal in America,” wrote this e-mail to WV Filmmakers Fest director Kevin Carpenter. Posted with his permission -
Thank you so very much for the festival and for the award. It is truly an honor to have received the Best of Festival award from the West Virginia Filmmaker’s Festival, especially as an outsider who worked very hard to create a film that is an authentic piece of one aspect of WV today. I owe gratitude to the industry and the Governor’s office for granting me access not only to locations and people, but to their personal perspectives on the complex economic, environmental and social world by which the coal fields are defined.
And of course, I owe unending thanks to the people of West Virginia who opened their homes and their hearts, trusting this NYC filmmaker to tell their story with the respect and dignity that they deserve. Countless folks deserve special mention, but most of all, Maria Gunnoe and Billy Sammons must be recognized for the endless hours they spent with me and my cameramen and the infinite support they granted us. My undying thanks for the award, and for the opportunity to tell this story.
David Novack - www.burningthefuture.com
Read a bio of Novack and his colleagues Brief Charleston Gazette story on WVFF winners including “Burning the Future.
Maria Gunnoe being interviewed on location
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[...] Burning the Future – Coal in America has been nominated for the 2008 Pare Lorentz Award given out by the International Documentary Association (IDA). The IDA recently sponsored a showing of the previous winners of the award along with films by Lorentz and related films like “The Grapes of Wrath,” based on the Nobel Prize winning book by John Steinbeck who worked with Lorentz on one of his films. “Burning” was selected in October 2008 as the “best film” at the WV Filmmakers Festival and has won many awards. [...]