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