American Hollow
Produced and Directed by Rory Kennedy
Opened theatrically at New York's Film Forum on May 26, 1999.
Premiered on HBO in November, 1999.
An in-depth exploration of the lives, hopes and dreams of a distinctly American family, AMERICAN HOLLOW tells the unique story of the Bowling clan. There are, at present, over sixty Bowlings living in a one-mile hollow tucked into one of the cloistered valleys of Kentucky's Appalachian Mountains, a microcosm largely untouched by the world developing rapidly around them. Continuing in the tradition of Dorothy Lange and Walker Evans, AMERICAN HOLLOW revisits this storied region to explore what is lost and what is gained in the struggle to maintain centuries-old tradition.
The Bowlings' world seems a strange echo of our agrarian past. Some may expect an Appalachia of inbreeds and six-fingered children, hillbillies and moonshine, an America more backwards than backwoods--but it is not that simple. Proud homeowners with a deep regard for family, the Bowlings' way of life is now threatened by a combination of decreased welfare spending and scarce job opportunities. While many Appalachians are gradually lured down from the hills to work at the malls and fast-food restaurants of a rapidly encroaching society, the Bowlings hang steadfastly onto their land. Collecting blood root and ginseng for additional income to supplement the government checks upon which they largely subsist, the family is determined to hold onto their tradition, at the heart of which is the sanctity of family. Iree Bowling, the clan's powerful seventy-year-old matriarch, points out that while each of her thirteen children have at different times moved out of the hollow, in the end they have all returned: "They know that here at home, they'll never have to do without--they will always have food to eat and a place to rest their head."
AMERICAN HOLLOW premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, winning Best Documentary prizes at the American Film Institute, Newport and Northampton Film Festivals, the Gold Hugo award at The 1999 Chicago International Film Festival, and was most recently nominated for both an Independent Spirit Award and a Non-Fiction Emmy Award. In November 1999, after AMERICAN HOLLOW's critically acclaimed run at New York City's Film Forum, HBO broadcast the film as part of the American Undercover series, and Kennedy's companion book, American Hollow, was published by Little, Brown & Co. in conjunction with the film's broadcast premiere. In addition, there is an "American Hollow" cultural exhibit, featuring the photos of Steve Lehman, as well as crafts and music from the region. Venues at which the film and/or exhibit has been displayed include The Capitol Rotunda, The National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Television & Radio, The American Museum of the Moving Image, The University of Kentucky at Lexington, and The Dayton Art Institute. Traveling through 2001, the exhibit will appear at The Norton Museum and the Millennium Monument Museum, among others. Elements from the book and exhibit have been combined and posted on The Washington Post website's electronic gallery (www.washingtonpost.com).
- To purchase the book American Hollow, please visit Umbrage Editions
All pictures on AMERICAN HOLLOW taken by Steve Lehman.