Ideas Festival Emory

When J.D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy, became the Republican nominee for Vice President, Appalachian culture and history were again thrust into the national conversation.
Although Barbara Kopple's Oscar-winning 1976 documentary Harlan County USA is nearly fifty years old, it is now more relevant than ever. The film tells the story of a 13-month-long coal mine strike in Brookside, Kentucky.
On its release, Film Comment wrote:
"Few documentaries rivet you to your seat; this one does. The guts it took to make are up there on the screen, in the footage shot by director Barbara Kopple and cameraman Hart Perry during the violent encounters between scabs (mostly KKK members) and strikers. It is obvious that Kopple’s rapport with the miners’ wives was extremely close; the women all come through strongly, especially Lois Scott, the Jane Darwell earth mother of Harlan who totes a gun in her cleavage."
Barbara Kopple will join us for the screening and discuss making the film, its impact and relevance today.