Press Release

January 4, 2008

Contact: B. J. Gudmundsson 304-645-4998  bj@patchworkfilms.com

South Charleston Museum at The LaBelle Theater will present world premier of mountaintop removal film “Rise Up! West Virginia”

LEWISBURG, W.VA. -- On Saturday, January 12 at 7:00 p.m. the South Charleston Museum at the LaBelle Theater will present the world premier of “Rise Up! West Virginia” The premier is co-sponsored by the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and Christians for the Mountains.

Songwriters T. Paige Dalporto, Agust Gudmundsson and Jim Savarino will present their original music from the film at 6:30 p.m. prior to the screening.

“Rise Up! West Virginia” is director B. J. Gudmundsson’s personal journey to understanding mountaintop removal.  Traveling from her life-long home in the eastern WV mountains to the southern coalfields, she joins the “Mountain Keepers” who have been fighting a 20-year battle to save their homes from the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining.  Their stories of struggle and visions of hope open a door to the complex issue that many believe is threatening the future of West Virginia.

“Using no grants or donations from anyone else, B. J. Gudmundsson has created her finest film about the effects of mountaintop removal mining on her beloved West Virginia,” writes film reviewer Steve Fesenmaier of Charleston, W.Va.  “Unlike her previous films, she does this one in the first person, stating directly to the camera how devastated she has been as she has learned more and more about what MTR does to the lives of her fellow West Virginians.”

Fesenmaier calls “Rise Up! West Virginia” the first West Virginia film masterpiece of 2008.

The film features West Virginia residents Jim Foster, Mary Miller, Pauline Canterberry, Ed Wiley, Ken Hechler, George Daugherty, Julian Martin, Robert Gates, Maria Gunnoe, Larry Gibson and Julia Bonds.

B. J. Gudmundsson is a native of Pocahontas County and lives in Lewisburg, WV.  She serves on the Board of the West Virginia Filmmakers Guild and was named West Virginia Filmmaker of the Year in 2005.  Website www.patchworkfilms.com

Admission is $4.00, $2.00 for members.  The LaBelle Theater is located at 311 D Street in South Charleston.  For more information call the theater at 304-744-9711 or visit their website at www.geocities.com/scmuseum.