King Coal
King Coal
Elaine McMillion Sheldon
Elaine McMillion Sheldon
The cultural roots of coal continue to permeate the rituals of daily life in Appalachia even as its economic power wanes. The journey of a coal miner’s daughter exploring the region’s dreams and myths, untangling the pain and beauty, as her community sits on the brink of massive change.
Documentary Film, Experimental Film, Moving Image
2021
About Elaine McMillion Sheldon
Knoxville, TN
Elaine McMillion Sheldon is an Appalachian-based filmmaker who explores challenges in American society and its effects on people. She is the director of Recovery Boys and the Academy Award-nominated, Emmy-winning Heroin(e), which both explore America’s opioid crisis. Her film Tutwiler, an intimate look at motherhood inside one of America’s most notorious women’s prisons, aired on PBS America Reframed. Sheldon’s interactive documentary Hollow brought to life a post-industrial community online and received a Peabody Award and 3rd Prize in the World Press Photo Awards. She was named a 2021 Livingston Award Finalist, 2020 Guggenheim Fellow, 2018 USA Fellow by United States Artists, one of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film” by Filmmaker Magazine, and received the Breakthrough Filmmaker Award from Chicken & Egg Pictures.
Elaine McMillion Sheldon is an Appalachian-based filmmaker who explores challenges in American society and its effects on people. She is the director of Recovery Boys and the Academy Award-nominated, Emmy-winning Heroin(e), which both explore America’s opioid crisis. Her film Tutwiler, an intimate look at motherhood inside one of America’s most notorious women’s prisons, aired on PBS America Reframed. Sheldon’s interactive documentary Hollow brought to life a post-industrial community online and received a Peabody Award and 3rd Prize in the World Press Photo Awards. She was named a 2021 Livingston Award Finalist, 2020 Guggenheim Fellow, 2018 USA Fellow by United States Artists, one of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film” by Filmmaker Magazine, and received the Breakthrough Filmmaker Award from Chicken & Egg Pictures.