One of my favorite parts of my job is that I get to talk with people about their passions. When I’m helping someone optimize their website, I get to see creativity and dreams at their best. It’s so interesting and inspirational.

A month or two ago I had a session with a person promoting a movie that sounded intriguing. It is called The Mountain Minor. To my delight, I discovered it was available on Amazon Prime so I got to watch it after work that night. Here’s a trailer:

Here is the actual synopsis of the film using a copy and paste from the website highlighting the film:

Deeply infused with the traditional Appalachian musical genres of Old-time and Bluegrass, The Mountain Minor tells an overlooked story about the people and culture behind the resurgence of American Roots Music today and highlights artful responses to the difficult circumstances of human migration.  In the 1920s-1950s, millions of Appalachians left their homes in the mountains and migrated to urban Midwestern centers in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio.  The Mountain Minor is based on the true story of a life-worn Charlie Abner, a generation later, as he struggles with leaving his present life and family in Cincinnati, Ohio to return to the Kentucky Mountain home and musical heritage that once defined him.  The story is partially told in flashbacks to depression era Eastern Kentucky, when Charlie’s parents, Oza and Vestal Abner, face the difficult decision to leave the way of life they know and movie to Ohio for employment and better opportunities.  This film is unique in that all of its principal actors are traditional musicians-such as Smithsonian Folkways artist Elizabeth Laprelle and acclaimed banjoist and fiddler Dan Gellert-and they perform all of the music in the film.

https://themountainminormovie.com/

I’ve written about my appreciation for the mountains, music and people of Appalachia before. This movie highlighted many of the traits I love. The people were very real, and the importance of and bonding from music shone through.

It’s not a fast-paced film. That might bother some, but I found that it helped me immerse in the beauty of the area and simplicity of a pre-tech era. The simplicity did not mean there were no hardships. Just that life was very different.

Watching the movie, I felt I was going on a journey through history. It made sense seeing how time changes people and forces shifts in decisions and locations. However, the core values of who people are don’t change, and actually form bonds through time.

Anyway, the movie stood out to me as one I will watch more than once. And I can think of several of you readers who might enjoy the film as well so I thought I would share. Enjoy 🙂

Edited to add photos the filmmakers generously shared for my use:

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•