Ten Greatest Documentary Films by Women in Appalachia

July 30, 2004

Steve Fesenmaier
Research Librarian
West Virginia Library Commission

1. HARLAN COUNTY, USA – Barbara Kopple
   1976 16MM&VHS Cinema 5  103 M. 

2. STRANGER WITH A CAMERA – Elizabeth Barrett

3. ASHES TO GLORY – Deborah Novak and John Wittek 
   2000  WVPBS  60 M.   

4. DREADFUL MEMORIES: THE LIFE OF SHRAH OGAN GUNNING - Mimi Pickering
   1988  Appalshop  38 M.

5. OUT OF THE STORM – B.J. Gudmundsson 
   2001  PatchWork Productions  60 M.

6. THE TEXTURE OF LIFE: THE TUSING SISTERS OF BRANCH MOUNTAIN – Judy and  Ray Schmitt

7. BREAKING SILENCE: THE STORY OF THE SISTERS OF DESALES HEIGHTS – Tommie Dell Smith and Susan Pointon

8. HAZEL DICKENS: IT'S HARD TO TELL THE SINGER FROM THE SONG – Mimi Pickering
   2001  Appalshop  55 M.

9. A PRINCIPLED MAN: REV. LEON SULLIVAN – Diana Sole

10. BELINDA – Mimi Pickering

Mimi Pickering, a founder of Appalshop, is without a doubt the best and most productive woman filmmaker in Appalachia. I included her excellent film on Hazel Dickens in my recent “West Virginia Film Week” at the Pioneer Theater in NYC because Dickens is of course from West Virginia and Mimi herself has made several of her best films in West Virginia—two Buffalo Creek films and Chemical Valley. Kopple has made several other films about Appalachia other than Harlan County—official United Mine Workers history film, Out of Darkness and a fine film about the Ravenswood Aluminum lock-out, Locked Out in America: Voices from Ravenswood.  There are many other fine women filmmakers who either live in Appalachia or have made great films here, most notably Sasha Waters who directed Razing Appalachia in 2002.

Additional AppLit Resources: 
Complete List of AppLit Pages on Film

Steve Fesenmaier's Annotated Bibliographies of West Virginia and Appalachian Films

Created: 07/30/2004
Last Update:  08/09/2004 11:44:40 PM
Links Checked:  07/30/2004

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