In December of 2005, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington announced his annual selection of 25 motion pictures to be added to the National Film Registry, including the 1975 Appalshop film The Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act of Man, directed by Mimi Pickering. Both films are available together on one DVD with extra features and a website with extensive background plus study materials.
The Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act of Man
Directed by: Mimi Pickering
1975
Running Time: 40:00
B/W
On February 26, 1972, a coal-waste dam owned by the Pittston Company collapsed at the head of a crowded hollow in southern West Virginia. A wall of sludge, debris, and water tore through the valley below, leaving in its wake 125 dead and 4,000 homeless. Interviews with survivors, representatives of union and citizen’s groups, and officials of the Pittston Company are juxtaposed with actual footage of the flood and scenes of the ensuing devastation. As reasons for the disaster are sought out and examined, evidence mounts that company officials knew of the hazard in advance of the flood, and that the dam was in violation of state and federal regulations. The Pittston Company, however, continued to deny any wrongdoing, maintaining that the disaster was an ’an act of God.’
Reviews
"A devastating expose of the collusion between state officials and coal executives... a powerful piece of muckraking on film." -Newsweek
"Outstanding! A very powerful film." -Dr. Parker Marden, Professor of Sociology, St. Lawrence University
"Very accurately reflects the despair and frustration of a community caught in a web of corporate red tape... an excellent instructional vehicle for studies in sociology, business, psychology, and government." -Media Digest
"Admirable for its ability to strike a balance between emotion and analysis, the film speaks to us on the human level of universal loss and suffering. But it is also a political film that reflects the decades of abuse and frustration experienced by miners and their families." -Andrew Horton, Film Quarterly
"This film is recommended." -Educational Film Library Association
Screenings & Festivals
American Film Festival--Finalist
Chicago International Film Festival--Silver Plaque
Museum of Modern Art
National Film Theatre, British Film Institute
Projections of the South: Folklore
Buffalo Creek Revisited
Directed by: Mimi Pickering
1984
Running Time: 31:00
Color
Filmed ten years after the flood, Buffalo Creek Revisited looks at the second disaster on Buffalo Creek, in which the survivors’ efforts to rebuild the communities shattered by the flood are thwarted by government insensitivity and a century-old pattern of corporate control of the region’s land and resources. Through the statements of survivors, planners, politicians, psychologists, and community activists, the film explores the psychology of disaster, the importance of community, and the paradox of a poor people living in a rich land.
Reviews
"Captures in gripping detail how the effects of a disaster like the Buffalo Creek flood can continue to haunt the sturdiest of people even years later." -Kai Erikson, Yale University Sociologist and Author, Everything in Its Path: Destruction of Community in the Buffalo Creek Flood
"A very perceptive study of the effects of community disaster and dislocation and of the inability of governments at all levels to deal with it." -Choice
"A valuable teaching tool for discussions of the importance of land and community in Appalachia, the power and arrogance of the coal industry, and the insensitivity of government bureaucracy." -Stephen Fisher, Professor of Political Science, Emory and Henry College
"A powerful and sensitive treatment of a lingering human tragedy." -Library Journal
"An eye-opening revelation." -Booklist
Screenings & Festivals
American Film Festival--Finalist
Athens International Film Festival--Merit Award
National Housing Video and Film Festival
Sinking Creek Film Celebration--Award Winner
Western Psychological Association Convention
Women in the Director’s Chair--Award Winner
Click Here to visit the official Buffalo Creek Flood Web Site.
