PASSENGER PIGEONS
2010 / HD / 107 Min / Color / Stereo / 2:35:1
Written and Directed by MARTHA STEPHENS

Starring BRYAN MARSHALL, KENTUCKER AUDLEY, CAROLINE WHITE, BRENDAN McFADDEN, EARL LYNN NELSON, KARRIE CROUSE, WILL CASSE, JIM JOHNSTONE

Produced and Edited by JOE CHANG
Cinematography by GREG HUDGINS
Crew ALEX SABLOW
SYNOPSIS
A starkly poignant series of events after a local miner’s death forces family, strangers, and company officials to deal with loss and an ambiguous future.
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When Moses’ brother dies, he drives cross-country only to spend his weekend wandering the town he tried to forget before visiting his sister in law and nephew. Company suits, Buck, the retiree, and Nolan, his replacement, arrive to oversee mine inspections. Mine shutdowns loom over young lovers, Elva and Jesse, who try to escape the dangerous realities of the mines, while green DC activist Robin, arrives to alert the town to surface mining dangers and finds an unlikely friend in a retired miner.
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Themes such as mountaintop removal, pride, fatalism, and wariness of the outside are delicately used to portray modern life in Appalachia.

*WINNER*
2010 SXSW "We Believe In You" Award
2010 INDIE GRITS "People's Grit" Audience Award
2010 APPALACHIAN FILM FEST "2nd Best Feature" Award
2010 RIVER'S EDGE INT'L FEST "Best Narrative Feature" Award


PRODUCTION NOTES
-Filmed on locations in Ashland, Russell, Paintsville, Whitesburg, Lexington, and Cave City, KY in October of 2009.
-Director STEPHENS and Producer CHANG raised the budget through savings, crowd sourcing, selling paintings, and yard sales.
-The tiny crew of 4 lived in the Director's Aunt's house during filming.
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