Appalachia's mountains are some of the oldest in the world and feature one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. The area has also seen massive exploitation of both people and nature in the name of the industrial revolution. Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People, a four-part series, beginning Thursday, April 9 at 10/9 p.m. CT on KET1 and KET HD and Sunday, April 12 at 10/9 p.m. CT on KET2, travels through time and terrain to uncover the depth of the Appalachian story.
Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Sissy Spacek, the program combines magnificent visuals, colorful stories and insightful interviews with a cast of scientists, historians and artists who weave a tale that twists and climbs like a remote mountain road.
Scientific anecdotes about the nature of the region help viewers appreciate Appalachia as an ecological treasure; one acre of cove forest in the Great Smoky Mountains supports more species of trees than all of Europe. It's even believed that trees first evolved here 200 million years ago. Tropical jungles compacted over millions of years to create the coal that fuels our carbon economy, and deep underground, ghostly outlines of these ancient petrified plants -- what miners called "flowers of darkness" -- still glow on the black coal.
In addition to utilizing the talents at Appalshop, the series utilizes the expertise of numerous Kentuckians to weave its tale. Serving as consulting producer was Paul Wagner, currently at work on the forthcoming KET documentary Thoroughbred. Others include Carlisle native Barbara Kingsolver, the author of Prodigal Summer and The Poisonwood Bible; Loyal Jones, founder of the Appalachian Study Center at Berea College; Tom Gish, editor-in-chief for more than 30 years of the Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper The Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg; Ron Eller, director of the Appalachian Center at the University of Kentucky; and writer and UK professor Gurney Norman.
Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People is produced by James Agee Film Project.
