Student Documentaries of Place

Since its founding, the Emory & Henry College Annual Appalachian Literary Festival has benefitted from its engagement with Emory & Henry students. Underscoring the Literary Festival’s commitment to the creative telling of Appalachian stories, the 2023 Festival has included a two-day workshop with Elaine McMillion Sheldon for student documentarians. This workshop was also open to students from across Appalachia. Each participating student workshopped with Elaine a two-to-three-minute video produced in response to a common prompt:

“Tell a story of a place important to you. What would you like to change in your place? What are your dreams for your place’s future?”

The workshopped videos were showcased prior to and following the screening of King Coal at the McGlothlin Center for the Arts on the Emory & Henry campus.