The West Virginia Filmmakers Film Festival
Landmark Studio for the Arts
Elk Hotel/Essential Salon
Elk Theater
Evens Chevron
Jaguar Educational
Town of Sutton
Braxton Democrat
Citizens News
The Café CiminoWest Virginia State University
The BUZZ 1490 AM
The BOSS 97 FM
SymbolArt
Verbatim, Inc.
Michael Gioulis
Days Inn Conference Center
And special thanks to...
Braxton County Middle School
Steve Fesenmaier
Lydia Mong
Richard Ndunguru
Sutton Volunteer Fire Dept.
Braxton Motor
Kroger
Award Criteria
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2006 Featured Filmmakers
Catherine and Ann Pancake
BLACK DIAMONDS
2006 95 min. Bullfrog Films
http://www.blackdiamondsmovie.com
http://www.bullfrogfilms.com
Black Diamonds charts the escalating drama in Appalachia over the alarming increase in large mountaintop coal mines. These mammoth operations have covered 1200 miles of headwater streams with mining waste; demolished thousands of acres of hardwood forest; and flattened hundred of Appalachian mountain peaks. Citizen testimony and visual documentation interwoven with the perspectives of government officials, activists, and scientists create a riveting portrait of an American region fighting for its life—caught between the grinding wheels of the national appetite for cheap energy and an enduring sense of Appalachian culture, pride, and natural beauty.
Filmmakers Catherine and Ann Pancake were born and raised in WV. Catherine has become an award-winning filmmaker and Ann is an award-winning WV author. Working for more than 4 years on this project, they have traveled throughout Appalachia to chronicle the unparalleled destruction. Interviews with Julia Bonds, Maria Gunnoe, Arley Johnson, Ken Hechler and William Maxey.
