Mountain Top Removal (film)
Encyclopedia
Mountain Top Removal is a 2007 documentary film
directed by Michael O'Connell. The film explores how Mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia
has affected local communities. Filmed over a two-year period, Mountain Top Removal features community advocates, such as Ed Wiley, Larry Gibson, Julia Bonds
, Maria Gunnoe
, and Mountain Justice Summer volunteers, in their efforts to oppose the destruction of Southern Appalachia
's natural landscape. The film includes commentary from Jeff Goodell
, author of Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future
, geologists Dr. William Schlesinger and Dr. Peter Taft, and also Bill Raney, President of the West Virginia Coal Association. The film won the Reel Current Award (presented by Al Gore
) at the 2008 Nashville Film Festival
. Mountain Top Removal also received a Jury award at the 2008 Wild and Scenic Film Festival, Audience award at the 2008 Woods Hole Film Festival
and was screened at The Lincoln Center on Earth Day April 22 2008. The film is currently being distributed nationwide on PBS through NETA. The films soundtrack includes music by Jim Lauderdale, Donna the Buffalo,John Specker and Sarah Hawker.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
directed by Michael O'Connell. The film explores how Mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
has affected local communities. Filmed over a two-year period, Mountain Top Removal features community advocates, such as Ed Wiley, Larry Gibson, Julia Bonds
Julia Bonds
Julia "Judy" Bonds was an organizer and activist from the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, United States. Raised in a family of coalminers, she worked from an early age at minimum wage jobs. Bonds was the director of Coal River Mountain Watch...
, Maria Gunnoe
Maria Gunnoe
Maria Gunnoe is an environmentalist who opposes mountaintop removal mining. She is featured in the 2008 documentary film Burning the Future: Coal in America and the 2007 documentary film Mountain Top Removal...
, and Mountain Justice Summer volunteers, in their efforts to oppose the destruction of Southern Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
's natural landscape. The film includes commentary from Jeff Goodell
Jeff Goodell
Jeff Goodell is an American author and contributing editor to Rolling Stone magazine. Goodell's recent writings focus on energy and environmental issues. In 2006 he published his most popular book to date Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future...
, author of Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future
Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future
Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future is a book by Jeff Goodell which claims that coal mining is one of America's largest and most influential industries...
, geologists Dr. William Schlesinger and Dr. Peter Taft, and also Bill Raney, President of the West Virginia Coal Association. The film won the Reel Current Award (presented by Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
) at the 2008 Nashville Film Festival
Nashville Film Festival
The Nashville Film Festival , held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2009, Nashville Film Festival received close to 2000 submissions from 86 countries, programmed nearly 260 films and had an attendance...
. Mountain Top Removal also received a Jury award at the 2008 Wild and Scenic Film Festival, Audience award at the 2008 Woods Hole Film Festival
Woods Hole Film Festival
The Woods Hole Film Festival was founded in 1991 by Judith Laster and Kate Davis.Over the years, it has grown from a one day invitational event to an eight day event with films submitted from around the world. The Festival is held each year from the last Saturday of July through the first Saturday...
and was screened at The Lincoln Center on Earth Day April 22 2008. The film is currently being distributed nationwide on PBS through NETA. The films soundtrack includes music by Jim Lauderdale, Donna the Buffalo,John Specker and Sarah Hawker.