Interview with Anne Lewis, March 17, 2016

Partial Transcript: This is Jeff Keith with Anne Lewis again in Austin on March 17th, 2016.

Segment Synopsis: Keith and Lewis continue a conversation left off in a previous interview about the film that Lewis directed called "On Our Own Land," which was about the Kentucky Fair Tax Coalition and their mission to ban broad form deeds in strip mining.

Keywords: "On Our Own Land"; Amendment; Dee Davis; Elizabeth Wooten; KET; Kentucky Fair Tax Coalition

Subjects: Appalshop, Inc.; Documentary films.; Film.

Partial Transcript: One of that, uh, people I wish I could interview and who definitely seems to have been an ally in your work was Buck Maggard.

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses hiring Buck Maggard to work for Appalshop, Inc., but not having any real reason for hiring him except that he was good with people. She talks about him as a person and his ability to connect with people as well as the effect that poverty had on his health. He died in his fifties because he didn't have health insurance his entire life until he worked for Appalshop, Inc., but a dye test destroyed his kidneys once he did get health insurance.

Keywords: "Headwaters: Real Stories from Rural America"; "I'm What This is All About"; "Roving Pickets"; "Vote here."; American medical system; Appalachian Committee for Resurrection City; Buck Maggard; Coffee; Community; Dialysis; Diseases; Dogs; Editing rooms; Equipment; Health insurance; Highlander; Kidneys; Liberation; Morgan Sexton; Mountain music programs; Mountains; Outhouses; People; Post office; Valuable; War on Poverty

Subjects: Appalshop, Inc.; Death.; Film.; Filmmakers

Partial Transcript: Um, but since you said you, you met Buck when you were looking into "Hard Times in the Country", I wanted to ask you a little bit about that film.

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses "Hard Times in the Country", which was a film released in 1988 about the status of rural schools and the quality of education that they provided children. She talks about Maggard's role in the documentary as well as the reactions to the film once it was released.

Keywords: "Fast Food Women"; "Hard Times in the Country"; "Harlan County, USA"; Applications; Audience; Banking; Buck Maggard; Children; Coal industry; Community; Consolidation; Democratic Party; Effective; Employment; Fight for $15; Footage; Ideas; Law enforcement; Lyndon B. Johnson; Marie Turner; Motivations; Opinions; Opportunity; Patronage; Public television; Response; Social change; Social movement; Students; Successful; Superintendent; Teachers; Valuable; War on Poverty

Subjects: Appalshop, Inc.; Documentary films.; Education; Film.; Filmed interviews.; Politics and government; Power (Social sciences); Rural conditions.; Whitesburg (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: I'm going to stick a little bit with chronology.

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses her film "Grassroots Small Farm" that was released in 1988. She talks about the reasoning behind her work and the goals of her films upon release.

Keywords: "Grassroots Small Farm"; Buck Maggard; Coal mining; Coalfields; Cohesion; Collective ownership; Common history; Community; Exploitation; Farmers markets; Heifer Project; Helen Lewis; Hillbillies; Neo-colonial model; Production; Structure; Unique; Unsustainable; Valuable; War on Poverty; West Virginia; Working class

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Appalshop, Inc.; Culture.; Documentary films.; Farmers.; Farms.; Film.

Partial Transcript: Moving forward in the nineties and, and your work, uh, 1990 is actually quite a departure from what we were just discussing, but not entirely.

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses her film "Step Back Cindy" that she made in collaboration with Susan Spalding. She talks about dancing as a living tradition in Appalachia, as well as about her having to find other work during the summer in order to sustain her household.

Keywords: "Headwaters: Real Stories from Rural America"; "Step Back Cindy"; Berea College; Contract jobs; Footage; Funding; Interns; Internships; Jerry Johnson; Living traditions; Pittston Strike; Scholarships; Square dancing; Susan Spalding; Unemployment

Subjects: Appalachia; Appalshop, Inc.; Cultural traditions; Documentary films.; Film.; Rural conditions

Partial Transcript: But 1991, um, again, was another amazing year of productivity in terms of what came out.

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses her film "Fast Food Women," released in 1991, that focused on middle aged women working in fast food restaurants and acting as the sole provider for their families. She talks about interviewing the executives of the fast food chains and the blow back she received for the film. She also mentions being asked to speak at Berea College as a part of a convocation and the heated debate that followed between student audience members.

Keywords: "Chemical Valley"; "Fast Food Women"; "Open Windows"; "Roving Pickets"; Attention; Berea College; Buck Maggard; Convocation; Corporate interests; Dalai Lama; Executive headquarters; Fast food restaurants; Fast food work; Health insurance; Helen Lewis; Hillary Clinton; Judy Jennings; Kentucky Fried Chicken; Melissa Wright; Middle management; Music; Muzak; Pizza Hut; Productivity; Unemployment

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Appalshop, Inc.; Documentary films.; Filmed interviews.; Washington (D.C.)

Partial Transcript: Um, speaking of, o, o, o, of, uh, fighting and conflict--shortly after that--or the same year as that--in 1991, like I said, was amazing as "Open Windows"...

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses her film "Roving Pickets", which was released in 1991. She talks about the process of shooting the film and what she wanted the message of the film to be. She also tells a story about friends of Buck Maggard and discusses how the story reflects the uniqueness of people living in Appalachia.

Keywords: "Chemical Valley"; "Open Windows"; "Roving Pickets"; Berman Gibson; Betrayal; Buck Maggard; Character; Coal mines; Community organizer; Daisy Bridge; Dee Davis; Everett Thorpe; Gay Nell; Granny Hager; Haymitch Sinclair; Hazel Bailey; Highlander; Joe Nell; Local mythology; Mimi Pickering; Poverty; Public television; Religious songs; Resources; Revolution; Students for a Democratic Society; United Nations; University of Texas; Violence; War on Poverty; Working class

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Appalshop, Inc.; Coal miners--Labor unions; Documentary films.; Film.; Filmed interviews.; Strikes and lockouts--Coal mining

Partial Transcript: But I want to, I want to move along by asking you about your work with Chem--on "Chemical Valley," 'cause it was another collaboration with Mimi.

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses the film "Chemical Valley", released in 1991, that she collaborated with Mimi Pickering on. She talks about the other films that she has assisted Pickering with as well as films that Pickering assisted her on.

Keywords: "Chemical Valley"; "Dreadful Memories: The Life of Sarah Ogan Gunning"; "Fast Food Women"; "I'm What This is All About"; "Yellow Creek, Kentucky"; Chemical contamination; Collaborations; Environment; Hazel Garland; Highlander; Indian Participatory Research Project; Mimi Pickering; Participatory research; Sarah Ogan Gunning; Strip mining; Urgency

Subjects: Appalshop, Inc.; Documentary films.; Film.; Motion pictures--Production and direction.

Partial Transcript: The way you describe your piece though actually gets at something I'd, I'd like to ask you about...

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses the strained relationship between Highlander and Appalshop, Inc. She talks about the "bridge" that she created between the two organizations and how she had great experiences working with people from Highlander.

Keywords: "Yellow Creek, Kentucky"; Anne Romaine; Authenticity; Black Liberation Movement; Building Program; Connections; Education center; Fran Ansley; Hazel Dickens; Highlander; Jim Sessions; Larry Wilson; Mimi Pickering; Roadside Theater; Sarah Ogan Gunning; Turf wars; West Virginia; Workshops

Subjects: Appalachia; Appalshop, Inc.; Funding; Political activists.; Politics and government

Partial Transcript: Actually, there's a, there's a--we didn't ever talk about "Open Windows" as a project.

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses her film "Ready for Harvest: Clearcutting in the Southern Appalachians" that was released in 1993 in order to bring light to the issue of clearcutting in North Carolina. She talks about the logic behind the environmental stances regarding the issue and talks about some of the groups that were involved in getting funding for the project.

Keywords: "Chemical Valley"; "Headwaters: Real Stories from Rural America"; "Open Windows"; "Ready for Harvest: Clearcutting in the Southern Appalachians"; 4-H camps; Appalachian Alliance; Canton Mill; Church groups; Clearcutting; Commission on Religion in Appalachia (CORA); Environment; Environmental regulations; Forestry; Gay Evans; Grassroots organizations; Health impacts; Highlander; Jefferson National Forest; Maxine Kenny; North Carolina; Quilting Society; Roadside Theater; Scars; Social issues; Stereotypes; Steve Fisher; Strip mining; Vietnam veterans; Working class

Subjects: Appalachia; Appalshop, Inc.; Documentary films.; Film.; Filmmakers; Funding

Partial Transcript: Um, a pair of movies, uh--I, I guess as a, as a way of, of not just going movie after movie, another question I wanted to ask you about that maybe this would be an interesting place to do it...

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses whether or not she had any mentors at Appalshop, Inc. She also evaluates her relationship with Buck Maggard to determine whether or not he was a mentor to her.

Keywords: "Fast Food Women"; Buck Maggard; Community; Coworkers; Mentors; Opinions; Ronald Reagan

Subjects: Appalshop, Inc.; Film.; Filmmakers

Partial Transcript: While we're talking about the organization, and, and I've, I've made reference to this before, repeatedly, maybe too much, but just I'm really impressed by your output while, while you were there...

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses how she organized her day-to-day tasks at Appalshop, Inc. She talks about editing films and scheduling days to shoot the films as well as why she only watches raw material once.

Keywords: "Fast Food Women"; Buck Maggard; Eastern Kentucky; Interactions; Material; Organize; Process; Raw footage; Reactions; Work ethic

Subjects: Appalshop, Inc.; Film.; Filmmakers; Motion pictures--Editing.

Partial Transcript: 1995, I'm looking at both "Evelyn Williams" and, and "Justice in the Coalfields."

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses the film "Evelyn Williams" that was released in 1995. She talks about Williams as a person and how much she loved and cared for her.

Keywords: "Evelyn Williams"; "Justice in the Coalfields"; "What do you think I am?"; American flag; Archival; Grassroots; Kentucky Fair Tax Coalition; Memory; Social justice issues; Strokes

Subjects: Appalachia; Appalshop, Inc.; Documentary films.; Film.

Partial Transcript: And here we get back to dancing in the--

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses her film "Justice in the Coalfields" that was released in 1995. She talks about the support the miners of the Pittston Coal Strike received from surrounding communities and how Appalshop, Inc. refused to support the strike because of a misconception of local opinions regarding unions. She also mentions that she has a personal connection to the Pittston Coal Strike because her husband was a retired coal miner that worked for the Pittston Coal Company and the company was taking away health benefits from retired and disabled coal miners.

Keywords: Buck Maggard; Carolyn Sturgill; Civil disobedience; Clintwood High School; Coal miners; Community; Disability; Frank Sturgill; Health insurance; Healthcare; Herb E. Smith; ITVS; Independent funding; Jerry Johnson; Pittston Coal Strike; Processing plant; Strip mines; Yellow ribbons

Subjects: Appalshop, Inc.; Coal miners--Labor unions; Documentary films.; Film.; Filmed interviews.; Strikes and lockouts--Coal mining

Partial Transcript: And we're jumping ahead there to another film but another important one.

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses her film "To Save Our Land and People", released in 1999, that depicts the history of the opposition of strip mining. She talks about the decline in grassroots movements and how she feels that people needed to see that, though there were few, people in Eastern Kentucky were taking a stand and trying to defend their property and the environment.

Keywords: "Mine War on Blackberry Creek"; "To Save Our Land and People"; Broad form deed; Buck Maggard; Dan Gibson; Eastern Kentucky; Gordon Singleton; Grassroots movements; Highlander; Kentucky Fair Tax Coalition; Motivations; Mountaintop Gun Club; Mountaintop removal; Pittston Coal Company; Property rights; Sierra Club

Subjects: Appalshop, Inc.; Documentary films.; Film.; Strip mining.

Partial Transcript: Um, again, I've been kind of, not stubborn, but insistent in kind of trying to stick with the chronology and I feel like there's only, uh, two--there are two more films before you leave Appalshop or, at least, leave Whitesburg.

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses her film "Rough Side of the Mountain", released in 1997, that depicts two different towns in Virginia struggling in similar ways. She talks about the concept of 'pastness' that is stated in a quote by Immanual Wallerstein, which is read in the segment.

Keywords: "His Eye is on the Sparrow"; "Morristown: In the Air and Sun"; "Rough Side of the Mountain"; Andrew Garrison; Asheville (N.C.); Auctions; Birth defects; Commission on Religion in Appalachia (CORA); Community leaders; Companies; Devastation; Don Prang; Education; Forces; Funding; Health wagon; Helen Lewis; Highlander; Immanuel Wallerstein; Inconsistencies; Judgments; Lead mining; Linda Johnson; Local leadership; Maxine Waller; Misery; Pastness

Subjects: Appalshop, Inc.; Communities.; Documentary films--Production and direction.; Documentary films.; Film.; Filmmakers; Ivanhoe (Va.); Rural conditions; Trammel (Va.)

Partial Transcript: Well the, um--we're getting to a, a, a point in your career at Appalshop i, i, in terms of what we're thinking about.

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses how Appalshop, Inc. was when she first arrived at the company versus how it was when she decided to leave and go to Austin, Texas. She also talks about her decision to leave and how it affected her coworkers as well as herself.

Keywords: "His Eye is on the Sparrow"; "On Our Own Land"; Anthony Slone; Appalachian Media Institute; Archive project; Class consciousness; Comments; Community media; Creativity; Crude; Dee Davis; Defense; Departure; Devastating; Environment; Film Union; Film festivals; Fundraisers; Herb E. Smith; Jokes; Mimi Pickering; Money; Passion; Pastness; Physical identity; Production; Projects; Radio; Roadside Theater; Royalties; Rules; Stereotypes; Theater; WMMT

Subjects: Appalshop, Inc.; Change.; Families.; Film.; Filmmakers

Partial Transcript: Anne, we spoke already though about how much you value the creative community and, and losing that was tough.

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses films that were released eleven years apart and how the subjects of those films resembled each other in their attitudes. "Belinda", released in 1992, focuses on a young mother diagnosed with HIV and her protests to abolish the stereotypes that were centered around HIV/AIDS patients. "His Eye is on the Sparrow" is about Ethel Caffie-Austin, West Virginia's First Lady of Gospel, and her mission to spread her faith and minister to youths and inmates.

Keywords: "Belinda"; "His Eyes on the Sparrow"; Acceptance; Antioch College; Baptist Church; Belinda Mason; Ethel Caffie-Austin; HIV; Herb E. Smith; Heterosexuals; Interns; Mimi Pickering; Party; Pentecostal Church; Presence; Sins; Social beliefs

Subjects: Appalshop, Inc.; Film.; Filmed interviews.; Filmmakers; Religion; Stereotypes (Social psychology)

Partial Transcript: Well, um, uh, th, the, the next thing I guess we need to do is talk about these films that you worked on as Appalshop films from afar.

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses her film "Morristown: In the Air and Sun" that she filmed as a part of Appalshop after moving to Austin, Texas to pursue other prospects. She talks about the process of filming, organizing, and editing the material that would turn into the finished film of "Morristown: In the Air and Sun".

Keywords: "Anne Braden: Southern Patriot"; "From the Mountains to the Maquiladoras"; "His Eye is on the Sparrow"; "Morristown Video Letters"; "Morristown: In the Air and Sun"; "Rich Land, Poor People"; "Rough Side of the Mountain"; "Shelter"; "To Save Our Own Land and People"; "Video Letters"; Barbara Knight; Border towns; Failure; Fran Ansley; Global economy; Grassroots organizations; Highlander; Human trafficking; Immigration rights; Industrial developer; Mexico; Mimi Pickering; North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); Peter Pierce; Raw footage; Tennessee Industrial Renewal Network (TIRN); Themes; University of Tennessee; WGBH; Workers

Subjects: Appalachia; Appalshop, Inc.; Documentary films--Production and direction.; Documentary films.; Film.; Filmed interviews.; Filmmakers; Immigration; Political activists.

Partial Transcript: Shelter is another long term study, longitudinal study, of, um, the impact of institutions on, um, survivors of domestic violence.

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses her film "Shelter", released in 2001, that she made in collaboration with Appalshop, Inc. about survivors of domestic violence. She talks about the crude comments made by a prosecuting attorney associated with the shelter and the logic she followed when dealing with people in vulnerable situations.

Keywords: "Shelter"; Charleston Gazette; Domestic abuse; Domestic violence survivors; Prosecuting attorney; Rwanda

Subjects: Appalshop, Inc.; Documentary films.; Domestic violence; Film.; Filmed interviews.

Partial Transcript: And then, we get to Anne Braden, which is so recent that I remember taking students to go see it at Appalshop before--I, I think it was, uh--or maybe just after it, it was going around.

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses her film "Anne Braden: Southern Patriot", released in 2012, and how the production of the film was a community effort because Braden had passed away in 2006. She talks about the interviews she did when Braden was alive and how it was very difficult to get Braden to discuss the information she wanted her to discuss. She also mentions that she tries to encourage people to look at the enjoyment and commitment in Braden's life rather than the difficult steps she took in order to achieve her ultimate life goal.

Keywords: "Anne Braden: Southern Patriot"; "Chemical Valley"; Al McSurely; Angela Davis; Anne Braden; Bob Zelner; Collaboration; Commitment; Dottie Zelner; Environmental racism; Footage; Jesse Jackson; Jim Branson; Memorial service; Mimi Pickering; Moral majority; Vincent Harding; White supremacy

Subjects: Appalshop, Inc.; Civil rights activists; Documentary films--Production and direction.; Documentary films.; Film.; Filmed interviews.; Filmmakers; Political activists.; Race.

Partial Transcript: I guess as we wrap up with a final question that's sort of a mixture of, of two.

Segment Synopsis: Lewis discusses Appalshop, Inc.'s gradual shift in filming styles before, during, and after her involvement in the company. She talks about the unrealized potential of the films made at Appalshop, Inc. and how it is a sad, but real truth.

Keywords: "Stranger with a Camera"; American Experience; Anne Braden; Authentic; Commitment; Community; Content; Elizabeth Barret; Local; Louisville (Ky.); Mature; National; Organization; Regional; Sundance Film Festival; Union coal miners; Working class

Subjects: Appalachian Region; Appalshop, Inc.; Film.; Filmmakers; Political films.