Rural Life Films (Appalachia)

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Company Town

The former coal town of Widen, West Virginia. Once a model of paternalistic domination, Widen had been sold to the Pittston corpration in 1963.

Raise the Dead

James Ruterbeck's film about H. Richard Hall, Mike Ferree, and Eula Shelton, Pentecostal preachers and faith healers in the tradition of William Branham. Their ministry flourished…

Morgan Sexton

Eastern Kentucky's Morgan Sexton cut his first banjo out of the bottom of a lard bucket, and some seventy years later won the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage…

Rattlesnakes

The annual rattlesnake bagging contest at this tiny Appalachian festival includes a parade, a fair, firefighters’ contests, and a greased pig chase. A George Hornbein/Ken Thigpen…

Being A Joines

John E. "Frail" Joines was a master tale teller from Wilkes County, N. C., on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains. His hunting tales, stories from World War II, and…

End of an Old Song

End of an Old Song

End of an Old Song

Filmed in the mountains of North Carolina, this acclaimed documentary revisits the region where English folklorist Cecil Sharp collected British ballads in the early 1900s. The…

Hamper McBee: Raw Mash

Hamper McBee: Raw Mash

Hamper McBee: Raw Mash

A candid portrait of the Tennesse ballad singer, story-teller, and part-time moonshiner Hamper McBee.

High Lonesome Sound

High Lonesome Sound

High Lonesome Sound

John Cohn's remarkable documentary explores the lives of Appalachian mountain people in a depressed area of Kentucky through spiritual and folk music. Presents songs by revivalist…

Handmade

Handmade examines the white oak basketry tradition in Cannon County, Tennessee, and the evolution of baskets from utilitarian gathering vessels to intricate, prized, works of folk…

While The Ages Roll On

While The Ages Roll On

While The Ages Roll On

Filmmaker Kevin Ballings writes...My interest in this topic is not religious, but cultural and ethnographic. The Old Regular Baptists are one of the most traditional religious…

Mountain Talk

Language and Life in Southern Appalachia – The people of Southern Appalachia survived for centuries in a rugged and remote landscape. Their historic isolation promoted the…

Where Do They All Go?

Where Do They All Go?

Where Do They All Go?

As a teenager, growing up in the mountains of rural northern Virginia, Jerry Payne asked "Animals are dying all the time. Where do they all go?"

Bessie Eldreth

Bessie Eldreth (1913-2016) was fond of saying, “Singing is my life,” and she told engaging stories not only about her singing but also about the rewards and challenges she…

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