Media Advisory: Baltimore Premiere of “Black Diamonds” Mountaintop Removal Documentary

Press contact: Catherine Pancake, blackdiamondsinfo@gmail.com, (443)858-3494

”…a searing documentary…” – Baltimore Magazine

“’Black Diamonds’ is a masterpiece” – Graffiti

“..powerful … incendiary filmmaking…” – Mountain Xpress


WHEN:
Friday and Saturday, November 17-18, 8:00pm, Admission: Tickets are $8, $6 for members. Online tickets http://www.missiontix.com

WHERE:
Creative Alliance at The Patterson, 3134 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore Maryland, 410-276-1651 http://www.creativealliance.org.

WHAT:
The Creative Alliance presents the long-awaited Baltimore premiere of Black
Diamonds: Mountaintop Removal the Fight For Coalfield Justice http://www.blackdiamondsmovie.com. Screening to be followed by panel discussion with activists. The documentary, written, directed, and produced by West Virginia native and Baltimore resident, Catherine Pancake, tells the world about the destructive mining practices happening in our nation’s oldest mountain ranges. It is the first film of its kind that offers a wholly comprehensive survey of surface mining and mountaintop removal practices in West Virginia. The film features voice talent by Lauren Graham (from Gilmore Girls) and interviews with Ken Hechler (former Secretary of State), Arley Johnson (WV Delegate) William Maxey (former Director of the WV Division of Forestry), and the proud and determined citizens of West Virginia. . Black Diamonds is a riveting portrait of radical community resistance - an American region fighting for its way of life - caught between the voracious national appetite for cheap energy and an enduring sense of Appalachian culture, pride, and natural beauty.

WHO:
Panel Participants:
Catherine Pancake, (director, producer, & writer)
Julia Bonds (Goldman Environmental Prize Winner, Coal River Mountain Watch)
Maria Gunnoe (Activist, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition)
Patty Sebok (WV Activist)

Director, Producer: Catherine Pancake, West Virginia native and Baltimore resident, is a filmmaker, organizer and activist. Her work screened at the Philadelphia International Film Festival, Kansas International Film Festival, West Virginia International Film Festival, Docs In Progress Series, Contemporary Museum Baltimore, AFI Silver Theater, Silver Springs, MD, numerous universities and conferences, and the Millennium Theater, NYC. She received a Maryland States Arts Council Grant for her work on Black Diamonds.

The Creative Alliance: The Creative Alliance is a community based non-profit organization that presents and promotes the arts and humanities. As a membership organization of artists, arts supporters, writers, scholars and businesses, the Creative Alliance cultivates community through collaboration. http://www.creativealliance.org.