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90-Second Cinema: Harlan County USA
Harlan County USA, an excerpt

Often considered secondary footage, b-roll is elevated in the introduction of HARLAN COUNTY, USA adding not only contextual meaning to the opening sequence of the film and 90-second clip selected here, but also creating, along with the “ethnographic footage” of Nimrod Workman delivering his haunting song “Forty-Two Years,” intimate access to the working conditions and commitment to community shared by the miners and their families.

Editor Nancy Baker conveys the events, personal stories, images and local music – expertly documented by Director Barbara Kopple, during the thirteen-month miners strike – into a dramatic story that keeps you fully engaged in the film. This is proof that often in documentary cinema the storytelling is created in the editing.

~ David Wright

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I love the sound in this clip. The voices of the miners - “Yeah, smile for us!” and “Whew!” - along with the machinery. Roosters. Slow move into Nimrod’s song. Kids yelling. Dogs barking. It could be an audio doc, too, the way it plays.

Posted on Nov 20, 2009 by enrico