CFVF 2000

Friday Seminar

Working Films and "Tobacco Money Feeds My Family"

"Tobacco Money Feeds My Family" (TMFMF) is a feature-length documentary film based on the conviction that the farmer's story is not merely helpful, but absolutely essential to understanding current tobacco issues.  Produced and directed by native North Carolinians, Cynthia Hill and Curtis Gaston, TMFMF focuses on farm families and their communities now being torn apart by the conflict and change generated by the current national tobacco debate.  TMFMF chronicles the lives of Willie Marvin Allen, Ernie Averett, and Melvin Croom, each a life-long North Carolina tobacco farmer who depends on tobacco-growing revenue as his only source of income.  For the past two years, the filmmakers have documented these farmers' lives in order to present tobacco farming as it is lived rather than as it is theorized.  The primary goal of "Tobacco Money Feeds My Family" is to tell a story about a lifestyle and culture that is is not only inherently different--but one that is also dying.

The genesis for the film grew from the childhood experiences of one of the filmmakers, Cynthia Hill, who grew up in Pink Hill, a tobacco farming community in eastern North Carolina.  Ms. Hill, who spent most of her summer vacations working in tobacco, has an intimate comprehension of tobacco's economic and cultural importance to communities such as her hometown.

Now, after compiling over 150 hours of video and film footage during the course of two full growing seasons, the project is set to enter its final and most critical stage.  During the next few months Ms. Hill and Mr. Gaston will continue to follow a number of volatile issues confronting both the farmers and the tobacco industry alike.  A final cut of the film should be completed November 2000.

Current funders for the film include:  Felix Harvey Foundation, Hillsdale Fund, Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, North Carolina Arts Council, North Carolina Humanities Council and Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.  The filmmakers are still seeking additional funding to complete the work's post-production process.  All contributions are tax deductible under the production's 501(c)(3) non-profit status through the Southern Media Foundation.

For more information including a full-length proposal and videotape samples contact:

Cynthia Hill
11 Weehawken St.
New York, NY 10014
(212) 691-1038
cynthia@glc.com


Curtis Gaston
2664 Dilworth Heights Lane
Charlotte, NC 28209
strafer@aol.com

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