King Coal

A thoughtful, personal, and beautifully made documentary about the history of Central Appalachia, centering on West Virginians and the region around them as the prosperous and deleterious effects of coal mining define every moment of their waking life and rituals. —M.G.

Academy Award®-nominated documentarian Elaine McMillion Sheldon takes us into the heart of contemporary Appalachia with KING COAL, where she examines the psyche of the region defined by the omnipresence of the coal industry. Poetically told with stunning cinematography, the film captures, with rich detail and curiosity, both the landscape and daily life within the region. Often told through a child’s perspective, this soulful, elegiac documentary details how Appalachia’s coal mines are central to the identity of its citizens and history and what happens to a society when it begins to lose that identity. But the film also addresses the future, as the death of the coal mine in this part of the country awakens possibilities for a new beginning and a new story to be told about American life. —C.F.

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