We'll be at Appalachia Rising in Washington, D.C., working with amazing organizations, filmmakers, and regular folks on a series of workshops, activities, actions, and more. Join us! If you're anywhere near the D.C. area, this will be a weekend well-spent, and one you will not forget. The things you'll learn and the people you'll meet will change your life, guaranteed. A small chance to make a big difference.
Like many towns in Appalachia, Maytown, Kentucky, is a community divided. The wedge is coal, specifically the controversial practice of mountaintop removal mining. While to some residents it represents a vital source of jobs and income, to others it’s nothing short of an environmental atrocity that threatens to destroy both the land and a way of life. The new documentary Deep Down: A Story from the Heart of Coal Country follows two lifelong friends and Maytown residents whose families have lived in the area for generations. One is a local activist, trying to stop a coal company from strip-mining. The other is facing the anguishing decision of whether to lease his land to the company for much-needed financial security (click here to see a trailer).
“We wanted to make a character-driven film, not an issue-driven film,” says director Sally Rubin. “If the audience cares about the characters, then they will care about the issue. Issue films have limitations in that it is easy to forget that the issue affects real people’s lives.” We won’t give away how it ends, but it’s precisely this intimate look at the people directly affected by these decisions that makes the documentary so compelling. It tackles a big issue by going small, and whether you live in Appalachia or not, chances are it’ll make you think twice about leaving the lights on.
Q & A with Dixie Morgan, a "newly born environmentalist"
Deep Down / Saturday, 14 August 2010 15:19
Deep Down is inspired by folks all over the country who are learning about mountaintop removal mining and trying to make a difference. In particular, people of faith from all walks of life are contemplating the relationship between their beliefs and their impact on the environment. This fall, Deep Down will screen in Appalachian churches and other communities of faith across America. Below is a brief Q&A with Dixie Morgan, a self-proclaimed "newly born environmentalist," who is trying to make a difference.
For Appalachians, coal mining is either a vital source of survival or a massively destructive force. In Maytown, a small mining community in eastern Kentucky, the sedimentary rock pits neighbor against neighbor, turning the closest friends into the fiercest foes. Deep Down, an hour-long documentary, portrays this clash of ideology in a town torn apart by mountaintop-removal coal mining.
The educational film follows Beverly May and Terry Ratliff, lifelong friends and Maytown citizens that live on opposite sides of the mountain – and opposite sides of the strip-mining issue. When a coal company approaches Ratliff with a big check and intent to mine his property, the struggling carpenter is torn between preserving his homeland and securing financial safety. With rallies, town-hall meetings, and petitions, his friend May sets out to convince him – and, she hopes, the rest of the community – that the environmentallly destructive practice should end.
Deep Down is a good example of its genre, telling a story rather than explaining an issue. Compelling narrative dominates the documentary, complemented by sufficient scientific facts to drive home the prevailing message: Coal is dirty. This heartbreaking but ultimately heartwarming account of a small mining community weaves in humor, color, and suspense, making it well worth a look.
Deep Down participates in REEL Engagement Workshop
Lora Smith / Tuesday, 22 June 2010 17:20
The Deep Down team were proud to be among a group of environmental filmmakers recently gathered in Bolinas and Berkley, California to collaborate on the powerful art of storytelling as a tool to create change at the grassroots and national levels for a clean energy future.
The five day retreat, “Reel Engagement for the Energy and Natural Resource Revolution” was sponsored by the Fledgling FundChicken and Egg Pictures, and Working Films to bring together films from around that world that collectively tell the story of extractive industries, dirty fuels, and the catastrophic impacts of global climate change while offering narratives of hope for a people-powered clean energy revolution.
At the very core of our national debate over climate change, alternatives fuels and the existence of so-called “clean coal technology” comes a new and enlightening documentary that challenges conventional thinking about the mining and operation of coal companies that few people ever see.
In discussing an appropriate question for candidates during this year’s spring primary election, a friend offered this thought: The unfolding story of this country’s worst oil spill in history, as of yet uncontained and growing daily in the Gulf of Mexico, is familiar to Kentuckians because of our experience with what coal has taught us to expect. Disasters of devastating proportions can happen when things go wrong around the “balance” of meeting our energy needs and protecting our natural environment.
by Jen Gilomen & Sally Rubin, Co-Directors of Deep Down
As we watched the sold-out crowd in Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium rise to its feet while Dave Matthews, Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Kathy Mattea, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Big Kenny, and several other musicians joined their voices together to raise awareness for the issue of mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia, it dawned on us: as of today, we are officially part of a movement.
National television ad premieres at Deep Down screening in Nashville
Deep Down / Tuesday, 25 May 2010 18:05
The ad, which is part of the NRDC's larger campaign to raise awareness and advance legislation around mountaintop removal coal mining, is the first such national advertisement.
Deep Down participates in star-studded Nashville events
Deep Down / Tuesday, 25 May 2010 17:52
It is incredible to discover, just as our film is coming out, that Deep Down is part of a budding movement that is just beginning to reach the masses. As we watched the sold-out crowd in Nashville's Ryman Auditorium rise to its feet while Dave Matthews, Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Kathy Mattea, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Big Kenny, and several other musicians joined their voices together to raise awareness for the issue of mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia, it dawned on us: as of today, we are officially part of a movement.
Music Saves Mountains & Movies Save Mountains, May 19 & 20, 2010
In May of 2010, Deep Down participated in two high profile events in Nashville sponsored by our outreach partner, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). FIrst, on May 19th, the Deep Down trailer marked a mid-point in a star-studded line-up of musical acts at the Music Saves Mountains concert. Supporters, partners, and folks from all over the region who we met along the journey of production came from all of the Appalachian states. The sold-out crowd in Nashville's Ryman Auditorium rose to its feet while Dave Matthews, Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Kathy Mattea, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Big Kenny, and several other musicians joined their voices together to raise awareness for the issue of mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia.
The following night, when Deep Down screened with the film Coal Country at the historic Belcourt Theater, Kathy Mattea told us that she too had felt the power in the room as she performed with her peers and new friends, saying "I had a couple overwhelming waves of emotion during the day," and "It was a moment I'll never forget. I had this moment standing on the stage thinking, this is the moment, where something bigger is happening -- where a movement becomes a movement."
When the lights came up after two films and performances, most of the audience stayed for the panel discussion with Mattea, Rob Perks from NRDC, the great activist Judy Bonds, Mary Lynn Evans, maker of Coal Country, Jen Gilomen and Sally Rubin, directors of Deep Down, and Terry Ratliff, subject of Deep Down. The audience asked questions like, "what can we do?" And, "is this information reaching communities in the coalfields?" We never thought they'd ask, but are grateful they did.
This video contains words and introductions by author Silas House, performances by Kathy Mattea, and an edited version of the panel discussion in which the panelists speak about mountaintop removal, economic development, policies in Appalachian states and the U.S., solutions, and the power of social media. If you weren't there for the event, we encourage you to "talk back" on our web site with questions and comments on our talk back page.
We'll be at Appalachia Rising in Washington, D.C., working with amazing organizations, filmmakers, and regular folks on a series of workshops, activities, actions, and more. Join us! If you're anywhere near the D.C. area, this will be a weekend well-spent, and one you will not forget. The things you'll learn and the people you'll meet will change your life, guaranteed. A small chance to make a big difference.
The Deep Down team were proud to be among a group of environmental filmmakers recently gathered in Bolinas and Berkley, California to collaborate on the powerful art of storytelling as a tool to create change at the grassroots and national levels for a clean energy future.
As we watched the sold-out crowd in Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium rise to its feet while Dave Matthews, Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Kathy Mattea, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Big Kenny, and several other musicians joined their voices together to raise awareness for the issue of mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia, it dawned on us: as of today, we are officially part of a movement.
It is incredible to discover, just as our film is coming out, that Deep Down is part of a budding movement that is just beginning to reach the masses. As we watched the sold-out crowd in Nashville's Ryman Auditorium rise to its feet while Dave Matthews, Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Kathy Mattea, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Big Kenny, and several other musicians joined their voices together to raise awareness for the issue of mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia, it dawned on us: as of today, we are officially part of a movement.
