King Coal

A lyrical tapestry of a place and people, King Coal meditates on the complex history & future of the coal industry, the communities it has shaped, and myths it has created. Elaine McMillion Sheldon reshapes the boundaries of documentary filmmaking in a spectacularly beautiful & deeply moving immersion into Central Appalachia where coal is not just a resource, but a way of life, imagining the ways a community can re-envision itself. While deeply situated in the regions under the reign of "King Coal", where she has lived & worked her entire life, the film transcends time and place, emphasizing the ways in which all are connected through an immersive mosaic of belonging, ritual, imagination. Emerging from the shadows of the coal mines, King Coal untangles the pain from the beauty, and it illuminates our capacity for change.