A new documentary released by Appalshop this week follows the nonprofit cultural preservation organization's efforts to restore its archives nearly three years after historic and deadly flooding rocked eastern Kentucky, and severely damaged the group's headquarters.
By the time the floodwaters receded in Whitesburg, archivists estimate that around 85% of the contents of its climate-controlled vault – which holds thousands of hours of recordings, as well as photographs and print materials – had spent time underwater.
"Magenta," named for the reddish discoloration of faded film, follows Appalshop Archive Operations Technician Shane Terry as he sifts through film strips, photos, video tapes and papers, trying to hold onto the region's history however he can.
The film's director, Appalshop internal media coordinator Nik Lee, said they wanted to capture the physical experience of what's being done by Terry and the rest of the team of employees and volunteers.
"I just kinda wanted to capture the feeling of what it's like to go into the archive, and to see what they're doing – 'cause it's very important work," they said.
Thousands of homes across eastern Kentucky suffered damaged from the floodwaters and hundreds were a complete loss. Lee's home was among those destroyed by the disaster and Appalshop's headquarters were left unsalvageable.
"While I was dealing with being homeless and trying to salvage things, I was also trying to help Appalshop salvage some things on the days that I could come by," Lee said. "So it was just kind of like both pieces of my heart were flooded."
The documentary captures the hardships of a rural archive in flux. At one point, in a room filled with boxes of documents and other records, Terry opens a freezer unit stacked high with papers and film canisters.
"We have like a lot of film in here that needs to be kept frozen," he tells Lee.
Then the generator kicks off, endangering the film stock that he explains will turn "goopy" and lose its detail if it gets too hot.
"Another day in the archive," Terry says with a laugh.
Aaron Asbury, the manager of Appalshop's film program, said the organization is also working with community members to save their personal records.
"Not only are we trying to preserve history, we're trying to preserve family memories and memory work. Memory-keeping is not just this, this kind of academic thing done behind closed doors," he said. "It really is a down to earth [process] … It is very personal, at least the way we do it."
Chad Hunter is the archive director for Appalshop. He said the organization is still "dealing with the flood on a daily basis," but that new archival materials are showing up all the time.
"We're looking at the past and we're looking at the present and we're looking at the future all at the same time," Hunter said. "It has been three years, and there is work to do: new work to do. We're receiving collections almost on a monthly basis … [and] people are looking to us to help care for these historic and culturally important items for the region."
Hunter also said that, moving forward, the group is planning to build a new long-term home for Appalshop to continue their mission to document the Appalachian culture of today, yesterday and tomorrow.
Asbury said "Magenta" captures the state of the organization – and Appalachia – right now, as well as the difficult emotional and physical labor that goes into preserving a region's culture and history.
"It's not exactly the most forgiving work. It's very intense," he said. "So we wanted to showcase that. And Nik really took it into their own hands and made it this piece that might make you cry. It went from something that was supposed to just, you know, raise awareness, to something that is moving."
"Magenta" is now streaming free on Appalshop's YouTube channel. It's the first in the nonprofit's AppalShorts series that Asbury says will highlight new work from Appalachian filmmakers and creators.
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