From the Hills and Hollers: HILLBILLY with Tom Hansell

Watch Trailer Director: Ashley York, Sally Rubin

The term “hillbilly” has been tossed about casually in America for well over a century, usually as a (derogatory) reference to people from the region of Appalachia. Moreover, rural culture has been heavily stigmatized in media like films, TV shows, and literature, with hill-folk characters who are by-and-large uneducated, poor, devoid of morals, and/or worthy only of being exploited. As a result, most people fail to stop and think about the historical origins, let alone the modern nuances and cultural complexities, of those to whom the word gets applied. In the 2018 documentary Hillbilly, filmmakers Sally Rubin and Ashley York do just that.

Training their cameras on the people, places, and culture of Appalachia, Rubin and York seek to reclaim the dignity of the term and to portray Appalachians in a more positive and realistic light. By examining over a century’s-worth of media representation of Appalachian culture, and through interviews with people who live in the region, this film is an attempt to shed light on the richness and proud heritage of one of America’s most misunderstood communities.

About the Speaker

Tom Hansell is a filmmaker, author, and professor of Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. He worked on Hillbilly as a field producer for the documentary film. Prior to the screening, he will provide context about the documentary’s intersectional approach to Appalachian Culture(s) and politics.

Check out the rest of our films for the Appalachian Stories series

This series is sponsored by the Ohio Honors Program, University Libraries, College of Health Sciences and Professions, The Department of Social and Public Health, GO Local, University College, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The Multicultural Center and The Black Student Cultural Programming Board, Center for Campus and Community Engagement, and The Women’s Center.