In Ya Blood

Film Description

Randy: "How long you worked in the mines?" Miner: "Twenty‑eight years. Straight. Nothing else. Don’t know nothing else. Can’t do nothing else … It gets in ya blood." Appalshop’s first dramatic film, In Ya Blood, is the story of a prototypical young man from Appalachia in the summer after his senior year in high school. In one of the only narrative films in Appalshop's catalogue, Randy, the protagonist, must make the difficult decision still faced by many Appalachian youth today — whether to stay in the mountains or leave in search of a “better life.” The film follows Randy as he struggles with his alternatives of working in the coal mines or going off to college. Shot in black and white by filmmakers the same age as those portrayed in the film, In Ya Blood is highly effective as an insider’s look at the decisions faced by many teenagers as they consider their futures.

Screenings & Festivals

• Museum of Modern Art