AllMovie

This compelling Robert K. Sharpe documentary was nominated for an Academy Award. The residents of Pine Knoll, West Virginia battle to save their mountain homes from being destroyed by strip miners. The locals are convinced the state and federal governments are bought and sold by the coal companies. Despite her personal battle with black lung disease, Ellis Bailey is the venerable former miner who organizes the movement against the company. Black and white citizens alike combine forces to bring a protest group to the state capital in Charleston. Still, there are residents reluctant to go against the company, which still owns many of the homes the protesters live in. The topsoil and trees are washed away in every rainfall, completely gutting the mountain and driving away the wildlife that many people rely on for sustenance. The efforts of the people of Pine Knoll lead to sweeping federal regulations against strip mining.