Robert Gates has been making films since the early 1970s, leading the WV Filmmakers Guild for decades, and in general showing the state what an activist filmmaker is. He made the first WV-based film on the effects of MTR, “All Shaken Up.” The South Charleston Museum will be presenting three of his films on Saturday, 7 PM, January 9th, to open their 2010 WV Film Series. The following is their press release for the event.
(Charleston, WV, December 4, 2009)The South Charleston Museum will begin its 2010 West Virginia Film Series on Saturday, January 9th at 7 PM with three films by West Virginia’s leading independent filmmaker, Robert Gates. The three films will all be loca
l premieres. He will introduce the film and answer questions afterwards. The three films are – “40 Years – The West Virginia Highland Conservancy,” “Buffalo Creek Disaster,” and the world DVD premiere of “Morris Family Old Time Music Festival.”- Admission is $4. About “40 YEARS – THE WEST VIRGINIA HIGHLAND CONSERVANCY”2008 60 mins. Omni Productions
Charleston filmmaker Robert Gates filmed the 40th anniversary celebration of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy at Cheat Mountain Club on Shavers Fork in October 2007. Founded in 1967, they are the state’s oldest environmental advocacy organization. Successes include saving the Canaan Valley from being turned into a pumped storage reservoir, working on Monongahela National Forest issues including wilderness designations and fighting mountaintop removal coal mining. WVHC published a book in 2007 titled “Fighting to Protect the Highlands- The First Forty Years of The West Virginia Highland Conservancy”, written by Dave Elkinton, who is also a former WVHC president, with an introduction by Ken Hechler. Website - http://www.wvhighlands.org/ Access: Robert Gates, Omni Productions, 304-342-2624, omni@ntelos.net About “BUFFALO CREEK DISASTER” 2009 (1972) 22 mins. Omni Productions On February 26, 1972, the gob pile dams at Pittston’s Buffalo Mining failed at Three Forks above Lorado on Buffalo Creek. A tidal wave of sludge and water swept down Buffalo Creek obliterating a 17 mile valley, killing 125 people, and leaving thousands homeless. The following day Citizens to Abolish Strip Ming flew over Buffalo Creek and Gates filmed the valley on a gray, windy day. The next day Gates filmed the Amhurstdale area. After State Police spotted Gates with his 16 mm Bolex camera in the back of a pickup truck, they were blocked from proceeding into the upper valley (Governor Arch Moore had imposed a news blackout, stating “the only thing worse than the disaster was the black eye West Virginia got in the press.”) Access: Robert Gates, Omni Productions, 304-342-2624, omni@ntelos.net MORRIS FAMILY OLD TIME MUSIC FESTIVAL30 M. 1972 B&W 16MM/VHS Omnificent Systems
Dave and John Morris held their own music festival at Ivydale, Clay County, from 1969 to 1972. The festival was known for its traditional music, good times, and rain. WV. Filmmaker Bob Gates filmed the last festival in exquisite black & white photography. Sight and sound are fused to recreate the happy time everyone had despite the downpour. DVD premiere. END #South Charleston Museum
At the Historic LaBelle Theatre
311 D Street
South Charleston, West Virginia 25303
United States of America
Tel. 304.744.9711 Fax.304.720.3769
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