Elaine McMillion Sheldon to headline Richwood Film Festival

PRESS RELEASE

 Oscar nominees Curren and Elaine McMillion Sheldon are headlining the first annual Richwood Film Festival November 5-7 in the town where the two-time Emmy-winning filmmaker spent many of her summers.  Elaine and Curren will host an exclusive Q and A following a screening of three of their films at the brand new Richwood High School auditorium on Friday, November 6 beginning at 7:00 p.m.  

            Elaine lived in Nettie with her parents, Randy and Rita McMillion, when she was a baby, and she would spend countless summers with her grandparents, Joann and Doy Russell and Nancy and Bobby McMillion.   She and her husband Curren Sheldon were nominated for an Academy Award in 2018 for their documentary “Heroin(e).”  

          Friday’s feature film will be “King Coal,” Curren and Elaine’s latest documentary.  “King Coal” premiered in 2023 at the Sundance Film Festival.  Their newest work, “The Ascent,” is based on the award winning short story by Ron Rash.  The couple filmed “The Ascent” in the Cranberry backcountry near Richwood. Finally, “A Bottomless Reservoir of Joy” is a short documentary about Rosalie Haizlett, an illustrator and author whose work celebrates the wonders of the natural world. 

               The Richwood Film Festival is the brainchild of a handful of people who are in the forefront of the arts in Richwood.  Carmen Bowes hosts an annual artist-in-residence program at her Cranberry Basecamp, a vacation rental property.   Bowes is a West Virginia native and a grants and accounting professional with 7+ years of grant management experience. She specializes in grants accounting and assisted in the management of this project.  

             Joanna Greer is founder and president of Milltown Foundation Richwood, a group dedicated to fostering the arts and artisans in the Richwood area as well as the state.  Joanna is a repatriated Richwooder.   She is a retired media teacher and former mentor of a PBS NewsHour student Reporting Lab in JFK High School outside Washington, D.C.  

              Cecil Ybanez is the founder and owner of Bloomfield Richwood, an art gallery that has showcased over 150 Appalachian artists of various genres. Ybanez himself is an award-winning mixed media artist and volunteer with the West Virginia Creative Network’s RIPPLE program. 

              When Bowes, who owns a vacation rental in Richwood, hosted artist-in-residence Jason Zeh, WVU Professor of Digital Art, in 2025, the seed was planted for a local film festival.    Richwood native Joanna Greer suggested the local Monongahela National Forest as a theme.  “I want other folks to know about these woods and their beauty and preserve their stories.”  Bowes knew about a grant opportunity through the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area.  Zeh provided the technical assistance for the grant application.  

              The Milltown Foundation won the grant.  “The Richwood Film Festival is centering its programming around the AFNHA themes and goals to guide film selection, community storytelling initiatives, and filmmaker workshops,” Bowes explained.  Those themes are Forest Heritage, Forest Abundance, Crucible of Isolation, Logging Boom Builds the Nation, and Resilient Forest.  

               Eighteen films were chosen by the jury to be showcased during the festival.  “These films run the gamut from Appalachian music & dance to experimental, supernatural, sci-fi, environmental and more,” explained Greer.   “But I will especially remember the small details of the survivors of the Hominy Falls mining disaster while waiting to be rescued.”  Two local films were chosen.  Michelle Rose produced a film about Roy Moose, the Snake Man, and Mary Jane Williams’s film is about the survivors of the Hominy Creek mine disaster.  

Elaine McMillion Sheldon remembers how important these festivals are to budding filmmakers. “Film festivals give you the chance to see your work in a room with other people. That matters because so much of our lives now happens online and in digital spaces. When you make something and an audience receives it in the room, whether they like it or not, it feels like a complete life cycle. Something isn’t really finished until it’s experienced.” 

The Richwood Film Festival is funded by a 50/50 in kind matching grant with the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area.   The 50 percent in-kind match was provided through 300+ hours of volunteer labor by Joanna Greer, Jason Zeh, Cecil Ybanez, and Carmen Bowes; short term rental lodging for volunteers and artists provided by Carmen Bowes’ Cranberry Basecamp, Dawn O’dell’s Guest House & Cottage, and Cecil Ybanez’ La Bonita; event rental space provided by Bloomfield Richwood; and film screening expertise provided by Jason Zeh. 

          The Milltown Foundation Richwood Board of Directors are Joanna Greer, David Ward, Jeromy Rose, Amy Baker and Jeff Hollifield.  

For Elaine, this is a sweet homecoming. “I’m excited for the town of Richwood to gather, watch some films, and have great conversations. The forests surrounding Richwood have long been a source of inspiration for me, both in my art and in how I like to spend my time away from work. I’m honored to be part of a festival that points people back to the very special forests that surround us. “