AMI's Summer Documentary Institute Is Underway!

This year's Summer Documentary Institute is officially underway! Since 1988, the Appalachian Media Institute has hosted Appalachian youth for an eight week internship that utilizes documentary storytelling as a means to explore, produce and share youth-led visions for central Appalachia’s future. Youth explore the basics of video and audio production, view and discuss documentary media, and ultimately learn how to produce and distribute meaningful media about community issues and traditions of the Appalachian region. Not only are they trained in media production skills, but also engage in in-depth discussions of challenging topics, such as environmental issues of the region and Appalachian stereotypes and representation. These discussions, though difficult to have, are vital in creating a well-rounded understanding of the complex region that is central Appalachia.

Our interns arrived June 9, and have been hard at work. In just a few short weeks, they have learned many of the technical aspects of photography and videography--still photography, composition, mood. They have studied the work of many storied Appalachian photographers, and have been out in the field, honing their skills. Together, they scripted and filmed a mockumentary, captured photos for routine assignments, and completed profiles on members of the local community. They have also practiced accessibility-minded media archiving, and recently filmed and edited a concert at the Cowan Creek Mountain Music School, which is available for viewing on the Appalshop Youtube page. The interns are currently deliberating on the topics for their short-form documentaries that they will shoot and edit over the final four weeks of the program. 

Stay tuned for details on those documentaries, and for public screening dates.

Filmmaker Anne Lewis leading a discussion alongside AMI Program Manager Tommy Anderson for AMI's Summer Documentary Institute cohort - June 30, 2025. 

"All Is Not Lost" Film Screening in Lexington

We are proud to be partnering with Kentucky NSF EPSCoR's CLIMBS Project for a free film screening and discussion at the Worsham Cinema in Lexington, Kentucky on July 18. 

Climate Resilience through Multidisciplinary Big Data Learning, Prediction & Building Response Systems (CLIMBS) seeks to advance Kentucky’s climate resiliency by bringing together researchers across the state to address this issue.

The event will feature two screenings. “CLIMBS - Kentucky Climate Resilience - The Documentary” highlights the effort from more than 50 multidisciplinary researchers from eight universities and colleges across Kentucky. 

There will also be a screening of the Appalshop film "All Is Not Lost," which chronicles the catastrophic flooding in Eastern Kentucky on July 28, 2022, and captures the severe weather, heavy rains, and subsequent floods that devastated the region. The documentary contrasts the tranquility of Appalachian life with the sudden devastation, showcasing moments of solidarity as neighbors and local authorities respond to the crisis. The narrative underscores the unprecedented nature of the flooding and the community's efforts to recover and rebuild.

After the documentaries, there will be a panel discussion with a Q&A session about flooding resilience, featuring professionals across disciplines.

The discussion will be emceed by Shane Holinde of Western Kentucky University and the Kentucky Climate Center. Holinde is a former TV meteorologist in Bowling Green who covered the deadly tornadoes in 2021.

Panelists include:

• Rebekah Radtke, associate professor, School of Interiors, UK College of Design
• Ryan Thigpen, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, UK College of Arts and Sciences and CLIMBS member
• Aaron Asbury, Appalshop Films Program Manager
• Trinity Adams, graduate student in the Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program, UK College of Arts and Sciences

This event will provide an avenue for further collaboration and potential partnerships on this topic across institutions, organizations and businesses.

The free event is 9:15 a.m.-noon Friday, July 18, at UK’s Worsham Cinema in the Gatton Student Center. Registration is open online and closes Friday, July 11.

For those unable to attend, you can view "All Is Not Lost" for free on our Youtube channel. 

A New Pay-What-You-Want Release from June Appal Recordings

June Appal Recordings continues to showcase albums from our catalogue through monthly Pay-What-You-Want digital downloads. We were thrilled with the response to last month's album, Ginny Hawker and Kay Justice's "Come All You Tenderhearted"—the album was downloaded nearly sixty times! It's an album we love dearly, and we're really excited for it to find a new crop of listeners. For July, we wanted an album that felt like Summer; an album that reminded us of porch-sittin' and banjo-pickin', and figured what better album to spotlight than The Luke Smathers String Band's album "Mountain Swing."

North Carolina fiddler Luke Smathers played with brothers Harold and George in the 1930s as part of the popular Smathers Family Band, who occassionally played on WWNC in Asheville, NC. The band broke up during WWII, but they got back together in the late 1960s and began to perform and record again. The band's music is stored in the Library of Congress and the N.C. Museum of History. In 1993, Luke and his brother, Harold, were honored with the N.C. Folk Heritage Award. Into his last years, Luke served as a member of the Folk Heritage Committee, overseeing local festivals such as the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival held every August.

Find the album on our Bandcamp page and name your own price or download for free, from now until July 31! 

Want to Support Appalshop?  

Your support is vital to sustaining Appalshop's programming, which includes original films, WMMT-FM community radio, live performances (including the Seedtime on the Cumberland Festival), the Appalshop Archive, youth media training, and much, much more. Consider making a donation to support rural arts and media by visiting Appalshop.org/donate or clicking the picture below. We can't express our gratitude enough.