Melungeon Voices
“Melungeon Voices”
A film by Julie Williams Dixon and Warren Gentry.
The film tells the complex story of the Melungeons using interviews, family photographs, archival documents and old film footage from the Vardy school. Several well known Melungeon researchers are featured in the documentary including Brent Kennedy, Darlene Wilson, Jack Goins, Wayne Winkler and Curtis Christy. Many Melungeons from the Sneedville area are also highlighted including DruAnna Williams Overbay, Claude Collins, Scott Collins, Seven Gibson and Johnnie Rhea.
The film is beautifully shot with haunting time lapse scenes from atop Newman’s Ridge and wandering scenes from Stone Mountain, and other locations throughout our region. Seven years in the making it is as interesting to those who’ve been studying Melungeon history for years as it is to newcomers.
The film was shown at the 2007 gathering and received sustained applause after both showings. The film has been slightly modified since last summer, and Julie Williams Dixon says she’s actually still revising the film based on feedback she’s gotten at film festivals. “My goal is to make the film have the widest appeal possible whether you’re a Melungeon or not. This story transcends just the Melungeons,” she has stated.
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