Mud in the Blood: Wood-Firing Potters Carry the Torch in Rural Western North Carolina (2025)

About the Film

These days, many pottery kilns can be fired with just the push of a button. But Josh Copus prefers a different method. For 72 hours, Copus and a team of potters from around the country worked together to fire a three-chamber wood kiln in the hills of western North Carolina. This pre-industrial method helps the artists ‘connect to the root of the craft’ and achieve unique surfaces on their pots. But it’s also an opportunity for connection, collaboration, and community building.

More About This Film

Licensing

For licensing, film rights and permissions, contact Anya Slepyan, the distributor Center For Rural Strategies' Living Traditions Program, or Folkstreams.

Film Details

  • Film by: Anya Slepyan
  • Produced by: Anya Petrone Stepyan (producer) ,Joel Cohen ( Executive Producer)
  • Editor: Anya Petrone Stepyan
  • Other Credits: Julia Titon, production assistant, Nicole Musgrave, program director for Living Tradtions
  • © 2025, Center for Rural Strategies
  • 9mins, Color, 5K Digital

  • Categories:
    Arts & Crafts, Traditional

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