King Coal

I was expecting something much more incisive about these troubled coal producing regions. There is just an inkling of that - with some funerals and the historical animosity towards unions. But most of the time the film just drifts along with children walking in the woods and sauntering by streams. It's all very lyrical and poetic.

Nothing is said about the current opiate addiction problems. Little about the health problems of miners. Everybody looks reasonably content and happy. Not a hint of how the decaying coal industry has ravaged the lives of these people.

Looking at the homes shown - they all look middle class with not a hint of poverty. We are viewing a Potemkin village in rustic West Virginia or Kentucky.

I saw this at Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham AL (August 27, 2023). My friend and I left another movie to see this one, largely because coal and iron play a large role in the history of our town.

I was not prepared for what I saw. The visual poetry was of such high quality, both in production and choices, that I largely didn't remember I was sitting in a seat in a fully packed audience -- and in all honesty, it seemed that was true of all others sitting with me. However you feel about coal and its complexity, the visuals alone are worth your time.

Along with the visual poetry, the narrator weighs in with their take in a gentle way. I can't remember a documentary (and that is my favorite genre) that combines the commentary with the visuals better than this one.

The film is very careful not to bring politics into it. It takes no sides. Its focus is on, as it begins, with place and how place defines the boundaries of all who live there.

Powerful in all ways I know how to explain.

As a 50+ year resident of WV, mostly in rural areas, I have also traveled to every county of the state. I love how this film showcases our state's incredible beauty while including archival and current documentary images of the realities of our coal heritage. It is respectful to this culture while providing a healing spirit that can help to inspire us as we move beyond it to a more diversified future. There is something here for everyone in our state to relate to as we see glimpses of places and events that we know. This is also the best antidote I can think of to the degrading images that have so often been used to try to undermine our sense of ourselves and what we know to be true. The two graceful and relatable young women who lead us through the story do justice to our promise for the future. Bravo to everyone who is involved!

This film manages to achieve what so few do: Take a look at a subject without resorting to cliche or repetition. So many perspectives on coal are black and white -- this one explores the complex and historical relationship with coal of the people who live and work with it. It does not demonize coal or coal miners, nor does it whitewash the devastating effects of the industry on the land and people. For once Appalachians are portrayed in a nuanced, compassionate way, and with the perspective provided you come to understand how and why coal has helped and hindered Appalachia. It took me several days to conclude what I had been trying to figure out: This film is art, not just a simple documentary. It braves the risk of presenting a story within the story, focusing on a child and how she grows up with the complicated realities of her region. The stunning visuals made me eager for others to see past the stereotypes into the beauty that is this sacred place. Well done, Ms. Sheldon.

While King Coal is set in Appalachia, don't dismiss it as a regional film. Many people agree that America needs new stories to live by. The story we lived by in Appalachia for a century expired twenty years ago, so Appalachia has wisdom to share. King Coal is an extraordinary elegy for the "King" in the title. Then the film goes farther and nudges us to consider ways to move forward that are not dystopia or fantasy. What I love most about the film is how Sheldon shows us that the resources we need for the future are ones we in Appalachia have had all along: unity, ingenuity, resilience, community, integrity, imagination, and above all, humanity. It's an object lesson for the whole United States.

This is a beautiful and honest film, original and elemental. Its final scene is one of the most powerful I've ever seen and certainly the most cathartic. And if you are an American, the power generated by old King Coal likely played a role in your life as well.