KING COAL (USA, 2023, 78′)

Sunday, October 6, at 3 pm, Cinema Massimo, Screen 3

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Direction and screenplay: Elaine McMillion Sheldon
Photography: Curren Sheldon
Editing: Iva Radivojevic
Music: Bobak Lotfipour
Production: Cottage M, Drexler Films, Fishbowl Films, Requisite Media

The central Appalachians are a location of mountains and myths. The filmmaker knows them well, she grew up there, she calls those mountains ‘home’. Coal has always had a profound influence on the identity of the community. It is not just a resource, but a way of living for a population called upon to reinvent itself today. The filmmaker, daughter of miners and narrator of the movie, explores the mutations of a region, her region, with a poetic gaze. She undertakes a poetic and social journey through the past, present and future of the Appalachians. Thus, moments of everyday life in the coal mine alternate with archive material in a film in which nature plays an essential role and a little girl wanders through a space that is both real and imaginary. King Coal explores not only a concrete reality, but also reclaims the magical power of stories and the way they are told. This wonderful debut movie untangles pain from beauty and highlights the innate human ability for change.

Elaine McMillion Sheldon (USA) is a director, producer and editor. She directed two documentaries for Netflix, Heroin(e) and Recovery Boys, both dealing with the crisis of opioid in the States. In 2013, she filmed Hollow, an interactive documentary that analyses the future of the rural areas of America through the eyes and voices of the people from Western Virginia. In 2016, Chicken & Egg Pictures awarded her with the “Breakthrough Filmmaker” Prize. She is among the founders of All Y’All Southern Documentary Collective.

Filmography: Lincoln County Massacre (2011, doc), The Lower 9: A Story of Home (2012, mm doc), Hollow: An Interactive Documentary (2013, doc), For Seamus (2013, sf doc), Forager (2015, sf doc), Betting on Trump: Coal (2017, sf doc), Timberline (2017, sf doc), Heroin(e) (2017, sf doc), 11/8/16 (2017, doc), Recovery Boys (2018, doc), Frontline (2019, tv series doc, one episode), Tutwiler (2019, sf doc), Sesame Street in Communities (2020, tv series, one episode), My Love: Six Stories of True Love (2021, tv series doc, one episode), King Coal (2023, doc).