Penny Loeb wrote the first national story, in US News & World Report, about the effects of mountaintop removal mining. She worked with Bob Gates on the first two WV documentaries about MTR, “All Shaken Up” and “Mucked.”(2003)   She wrote her book, “Moving Mountains” and has been writing a screenplay for a while. Finally, the film will be going in to production with WV filmmaker Bill Richardson as director and Daniel Boyd as co-producer. This is great news for everyone in West Virginia who supports  local filmmakers.

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 Stan Bumgardner with sign for Belgian exhibit – opening date moved to September 12

Ron Moore is one of the best reporters in the union blogosphere, DC Special Interests. He posts and e-mails out the most interesting news about daily events and how they relate to working people. He also hosts a live radio show that is broadcast in Pittsburgh, The Union Edge. On Wednesday, September 2 at 12 PM, Mr. Moore will be interviewing Stan Bumgardner about the exhibit he has designed about the “Belgian glassworkers of South Charleston,1907-1928.”  You can listen online to the LIVE interview and also hear it as an audio stream latter. ( Just like WVPBS radio)

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Beach Vickers, a well-known Charleston actor now working in LA, sent me the following press release about his proposed WV travel series. I think that it looks like a great show! Hopefully WVPBS will be broadcasting this program soon sometime in 2010.

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Dave Cooper  of The Mountaintop Removal Road Show sent out an e-mail telling people about his new 8 part DVD. Visit his website and get your copy.

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Paden City Public Library director Sharon Kastigar and Eagles president Jesse King showing programs for earlier Paden City Labor Film Festivals
 

Sharon Kastigar has been the library director for the Paden City Public Library for 30 years. During recent years, she has been working with various locals including Jesse King to show WV labor films during the Labor Day weekend. She will be retiring this fall. (more…)

The International Documentary Association is making the films of Pare Lorentz and winners of their Pare Lorentz Award available for FREE to institutions that will show the series. The films include the 2008 Pare Lorentz Award winner, made about West Virginia, “Burning the Future – Coal In America.” Hopefully, museums, colleges and public libraries in West Virginia will be interested in showing films by the man who changed film history. He was born in Clarksburg and raised in Buckhannon, attending WVU for several years before he left for New York City where he became a well-known music critic. The media room at The FDR Presidential Library is named in his honor. Below is the first part of the posting from the IDA about the free Pare Lorentz Series.

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 Production still from “The Electricity Fairy”

Tom Hansellof Appalshop has finally completed his outstanding documentary on coal in Appalachia called “The Electricity Fairy.” In August 2007, he came to the South Charleston Museum along with his colleague Amelia Kirby and presented an early version of his film. ( Kirby has co-directed a film about the exploding prison industry in Appalachia, “Up the Ridge,” which had some legal issues at the time.) Last night, I saw a final cut of the 55 minute film, finding it even more enjoyable and educational than the first time I saw it. (more…)

Mari-Lynn Evans, a native of Bulltown, Braxton County, WV has announced that her film “Coal Country” will be airing on national cable, Planet Green, a Discovery Channel, on November 14th as part of the “Reel Impact” series. Other great films to be shown include Al Gore’s “Inconventient Truth,” Leonardo DiCaprio’s “The Eleventh Hour,” Werner Herzog’s “Grizzly Man” and  ”Who Killed the Electric Car?”.

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 Trey Kay making a visit, shaking Ken Hechler’s hand – I don’t know if Ken was interviewed for the story

Trey Kay, a native of Charleston, has been working on a national radio program about the Kanawha County Textbook Controversey. He told me that as of now, it should be broadcast on NPR on October 8th. There will also be a panel discussion and an exhibit at The WV Cultural Center. The panel discussion will be on October 6th with Cal Skaggs, the director of a film about religion and politics, “With God on Our Side.” Congrats to Mr. Kay and is uncle Henry Battle who got the Kanawha County Historical Society to help fund the program, obtaining a grant from the WV Humanities Council. ( Here is my earlier story on the program.)

Thanks to the Simon and Ida Meyer West Virginia  Jewish Reunion, last night about fifty people including myself and Dr. Fred Pollock of the WV Jewish Film Festival got to see one of the most unusual, striking films I have ever seen, “Adam Resurrected.” The film was shown at The Park Place Stadium Theaters in downtown Charleston as the second event of the Reunion, after the opening ceremony at The Clay Center. Dr. Pollock was the person who chose the film for showing at the event, and it was a home run.

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