What has coal meant to America? Central Appalachia saw the energy source build communities and jobs, all the while creating destructive consequences. Director Elaine McMillion Sheldon explores the area’s difficulties as well as its connections to coal in “King Coal.” The documentary highlights complex subjects through the lives of two young dancers — their journey intensified by Sheldon’s unflinching attention to detail.

READ MORE: ‘King Coal’ Review: Elaine McMillion Sheldon’s Documentary Is An Atmospheric, Evocative Elegy For Central Appalachia [Sundance]

The film’s official synopsis:

“A lyrical tapestry of a place and people, “King Coal” meditates on the complex history and future of the coal industry, the communities it has shaped, and the myths it has created.

Continue reading ‘King Coal’ Trailer: Elaine McMillion Sheldon’s Acclaimed Doc About The Coal Industry’s Impact Arrives In August at The Playlist.

This is “a place of mountains and myths,” we’re told as a montage of Central Appalachian imagery fills the frame. The mists, buffalo, ferns, and flowing waters intercut with the coal-filled mountains and mining towns that grew up around them. Coal is intrinsic to the people of this region. Coal is made from many dead things crushed over a long period of time. This thought underscores the stark contrast between life and death that pulses throughout Elaine McMillion Sheldon’s impassioned documentary “King Coal,” artfully told through atmospheric narration and evocative editing. 

READ MORE: 25 Most Anticipated Films At The Sundance Film Festival

“This is what it’s like to live under King Coal,” she tells us.

Continue reading ‘King Coal’ Review: Elaine McMillion Sheldon’s Documentary Is An Atmospheric, Evocative Elegy For Central Appalachia [Sundance] at The Playlist.

When news breaks of a star overdosing on drugs a la Demi Lovato, you often hear the term “addiction does not discriminate” carelessly thrown around. Broadly speaking, there’s no denying drug addiction as a bipartisan disease, but when you delve deeper into the issue, deep into backwoods West Virginia—the heart of America’s opioid epidemic—you will see that this ongoing pestilence has its preferences.

READ MORE: Toronto International Film Festival: 22 Most Anticipated Movies

While the intricacies surrounding the epidemic have been well-documented, few can truly grasp the detrimental complications this crisis is afflicting in low-income regions.

Continue reading ‘Recovery Boys’ Drills To The Core Of America’s Opioid Epidemic With Compassion [Review] at The Playlist.