Special screening of On Coal River at A-B Tech

February 9, 2011

A-B Tech's Global Institute for Sustainability Technologies (GIST) and student organization Green Power are sponsoring a screening of the Asheville-produced documentary film, "On Coal River" at noon March 2 in Ferguson Auditorium on the College's Asheville campus.

The film takes viewers to Coal River Valley, WV — a community surrounded by lush mountains and a looming toxic threat. Shot over a five-year period, "On Coal River" follows a former miner and his neighbors in a David-and-Goliath struggle for the future of their valley, their children, and life as they know it.

Directors Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood produced this portrait of grassroots environmental activism in hopes of shining a light on coal issues and helping inspire others to take action in their own backyards.

“This project - like our last film - is about a community under threat. Coal River Valley is
home to people who have been sacrificing for a long time so that America can benefit from
cheap electricity, and it's still a very beautiful place. But people like Bo Webb are seeing
their mountains blown up all around them and people like Maria Lambert are living with
contaminated water coming out of their kitchen sinks,” Cavanaugh said.

"On Coal River" was nominated for a Gotham Award and was shown at East Coast film festivals including SILVERDOCS, the Hamptons International Film Festival, CamdenInternational Film Festival, New Orleans Film Festival, Chesapeake Film Festival, and Moving Pictures Festival.

Free admission for students with ID. A $5 donation is suggested for nonstudents. There will be a director Q & A session after the screening.

For more information, contact Ashley Edwards ashleyredwards@students.abtech.edu