Between global warming and the rising costs of oil, energy has become perhaps the greatest crisis of our day, yet rarely has its impact on our lives and communities been explored with compassion or detailed insight. Deep Down offers a unique glimpse into the personal lives of those affected by our insatiable need for energy, specifically coal. Beverly May and Terry Ratcliffe shared a childhood friendship growing up in the small, tightly-knit community of Maytown in the eastern Kentucky mountains. When a mining company threatens to use the environmentally-unsafe method of mountain top removal to procure coal, the two find themselves on opposite sides of an explosive issue. Beverly organizes her neighbors to stop the company from advancing into her hollow, while Terry considers signing away the mining rights to his backyard, a decision that could destroy both of their homes. Through a complex human documentary portrait that cuts across environmental, economic and cultural lines, Jennifer Gilomen’s provocative documentary contrasts the devastating result of our rampant energy consumption with the remote and picturesque backdrop of Appalachia.


Photographed by Jennifer Gilomen. Edited by Sally Rubin. Music by Joshua Penman. (57 min)