Hillbilly

Appalachia is possibly the most stereotyped and dismissed region in America. Its inhabitants are all poor, opioid-addicted coal miners, right? In an increasingly divided nation, where coal country is ridiculed regularly and blamed for all political ills by coastal elites, directors Ashley York and Sally Rubin attempt to challenge the stereotypes—are they really all toothless and uneducated? Spoiler alert: they’re not! Hear from Tennessee-local Dolly Parton, activist-author bell hooks, Ashley Judd, Jennifer Garner, queer activists, and “Affrilachian” poets, who help dismantle a more than 100-year legacy of negative media representations. There is more to rural identity than the infamous hillbilly, after all. This film is a refreshing—and much needed—call for dialogue. IN PERSON: Directors Sally Rubin and Ashley York.