KING COAL
Premiered at Sundance 2023 / In select theaters
A lyrical tapestry of a place and people, KING COAL meditates on the complex history and future of the coal industry, the communities it has shaped, and the myths it has created. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon reshapes the boundaries of documentary filmmaking in a spectacularly beautiful and deeply moving immersion into Central Appalachia where coal is not just a resource, but a way of life, imagining the ways a community can re-envision itself.
While deeply situated in the coalfields, the film transcends time and place, emphasizing the ways in which all are connected through an immersive mosaic of belonging, ritual, and imagination. Emerging from the long shadows of the coal mines, KING COAL untangles the pain from the beauty, and illuminates the innately human capacity for change.
KING COAL premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and has traveled to 30+ festivals where it has been awarded 5 jury awards, including 2 for best cinematography. The film was highlighted as a New York Times Critics’ pick and has been named one of the best documentaries of the year (so far) by Esquire and Marie Claire. Read more press, reviews, and find a screening nearest to you here.
MY LOVE (USA Episode)
Released April 13, 2021 on Netflix
Inspired by the acclaimed Korean documentary “My Love, Don’t Cross That River,” the poignant series MY LOVE documents a year in the lives of six elderly couples from around the world. Globe-trotting through Brazil, India, Japan, Korea, the U.S., and Spain, the six-part docuseries gets to the heart of long-lasting love.
Episode 1 USA: Directed by Elaine McMillion Sheldon
David and Ginger are the former proprietors of Williston, Vermont's Isham Family Farm, in the family since 1871. Now that they've passed the business on to their eldest son, they're budgeting for future care, finalizing their wills, and spending quality time with their children and grandchildren as their 60th wedding anniversary approaches.
Read about the series on IndieWire, Decider, The Guardian, The Daily Beast
"The intimacy of where Sheldon goes is what we enjoyed. We see them getting into bed and snuggling. We see them talking about their final arrangements. We see them napping on the living room...there’s an elegance and silence in the Ishams’ lives that makes us a little jealous."
Decider
TUTWILER
RELEASED MAY 7, 2020
In this unique portrait of motherhood, women who give birth while incarcerated at one of America's most notorious prisons struggle to stay connected with their children on the outside. The mothers turn to a group of doulas for support through pregnancy, labor and separation from their newborns; and they help each other cope with loss and guilt. This rare, intimate look behind the walls of a women’s prison raises questions about how our nation is handling the growing crisis of incarcerated mothers—and the children who must start their lives without them.
A FRONTLINE film directed by Elaine McMillion Sheldon and produced by Alysia Santos of The Marshall Project.
RECOVERY BOYS
Feature Documentary
Released June 2018
In the heart of America's opioid epidemic, four men attempt to reinvent their lives and mend broken relationships after years of drug abuse. Recovery Boys, from Academy Award nominated director Elaine McMillion Sheldon (Heroin(e)), is an intimate look at the strength, brotherhood, and courage that it takes to overcome addiction and lays bare the internal conflict of recovery. In an effort to break the cycle of generational addiction and trauma, the young men let go of painful pasts as they live in the present, and build a new community in a farming-based rehab. After rehab, they experience life's trials and tribulations sober, but struggle to find their place and purpose in an often unforgiving society. In today’s world, where shocking statistics about the opioid crisis make headlines daily, Recovery Boys gives a deeply personal look into the unseen lives of those working toward transformation.
Strikingly real, unyielding in its focus, honest to a fault, and offers outcomes that are never on solid ground…it’s a work of uncompromising art. It’s close to a masterpiece.”
“A Director Looks for Beauty in Her Home’s Opioid Struggle”
“Sensitive and life-affirming”
“Intimate, poignant, and raw, establishing Sheldon as one of the most vital documentary filmmakers at the moment, especially on the often misunderstood subject of addiction. The social impact of a film like this shouldn’t be understated.”
“Unearths moments of raw revelation that quietly highlight our shameful lack of effective help…a moving yet cautionary tale.”
“Set in the middle of this crisis, the film provides an exploration of male emotions will be refreshing to anyone who has grown accustomed to staid representations within popular culture.”
“Life has not been easy for any of the ‘recovery boys,’ but they approach their 18 months in rehab with so much integrity and determination that it’s impossible to not cheer for them while watching the film.”
“We are with them all the way in a cinematic proximity that develops into raw emotional intimacy by the end. The stakes are real; choices made lead to life or death. Forget our society’s current obsession with superheroes: this is the conflict of which powerful drama is made.”
“Essential viewing for all young men”
“A sober and unflinching glimpse into the heart of America’s opioid epidemic”
“The immediate social impression of Recovery Boys is tremendous.”
“There’s a tendency in politics to turn real misery into platitudes and abstractions; Elaine McMillion Sheldon’s documentary is the antidote.”
HEROIN(E)
OSCAR-NOMINATED SHORT FILM
Released September 2017
Once a bustling industrial town, Huntington, West Virginia has become the epicenter of America’s modern opioid epidemic, with an overdose rate 10 times the national average. This flood of heroin now threatens this Appalachian city with a cycle of generational addiction, lawlessness, and poverty. But within this distressed landscape, Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon (Hollow) shows a different side of the fight against drugs — one of hope. Sheldon highlights three women working to change the town’s narrative and break the devastating cycle of drug abuse one person at a time. Fire Chief Jan Rader spends the majority of her days reviving those who have overdosed; Judge Patricia Keller presides over drug court, handing down empathy along with orders; and Necia Freeman of Brown Bag Ministry feeds meals to the women selling their bodies for drugs. As America’s opioid crisis threatens to tear communities apart, the Netflix original short documentary Heroin(e) shows how the chain of compassion holds one town together.
“Putting human faces on the crisis”
New York Times
“A ride-along through a part of the country that has long been stigmatized and caricatured”
LA TIMES
“Transcends the politics of our current moment”
Slant Magazine
“A portrait of America few big-city dwellers ever see”
Film Journal
“Direct style strips the doc of any needless propaganda and commentary”
Boulder Weekly
“The very best of the Oscar-nominated shorts”
NonFics
“Beacons of hope and compassion”
IDA
“Finds the humanity numbers too easily ignore”
The Film Stage
“Transcends the art of filmmaking”
The Wrap
“Hauntingly powerful film on the opioid crisis”
Mother Jones
18 documentaries that will change your life
Hello Giggles
“A powerful case for compassion”
Forbes
“Powerful”
Paste Magazine
“Unflinching portrayal.”
Moveable Fest
“Alternating between stark realism and a sense of the surreal”
NEW REPUBLIC
“Netflix documentary shows the women trying to save a city from addiction”
THINK PROGRESS
10 Most Powerful Docs of 2017
NATION SWELL
John Prine: “Summer’s End”
Official Music Video for John Prine’s “Summer’s End.” Directed by Curren Sheldon and Elaine McMillion Sheldon
SESAME STREET IN COMMUNITIES: ADDICTION
Addiction is seen as a “grown-up issue” but it impacts children in ways that often aren’t visible.
Curren Sheldon and I directed and produced the video content for Sesame Street In Communities’ resources that help the whole family cope and build hope for the future.
I was one of 16 directors that followed voters - my segment followed a West Virginia coal miner - around the country on Election Day 2016. In the hours before Trump’s unexpected victory, a cross-section of Americans, on both sides of the aisle, live through history. “11/8/16” is a portrait of American democracy in all its chaotic glory. My segment was filmed in Summersville, West Virginia with a coal miner and his family.
Distributed by THE ORCHARD. Directed by: Duane Andersen, Don Argott, Yung Chang, Garth Donovan, Petra Epperlein, Vikram Gandhi, Raul Gasteazoro , J. Gonçalves, Andrew Grace, Alma Har'el, Sheena M. Joyce, Daniel Junge, Alison Klayman, Ciara Lacy, Martha Shane, Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Bassam Tariq, Michael Tucker
2017 Critics Choice Documentary Awards - Best Political Documentary (Nominated)
TIMBERLINE
SHORT FILM: FIELD OF VISION
For decades, the Navy base known as Sugar Grove Station provided jobs and a sense of stability for the residents of Sugar Grove, West Virginia. Now, it’s being auctioned off to the highest bidder. As their mainstay fades away, members of the community consider the "Upper Base” of the former Navy post, where an NSA listening post remains operational—and sealed off from the rest of the town.
BETTING ON TRUMP
SHORT FILM: Frontline
What do Trump's economic promises to the coal industry mean to voters in West Virginia? Twelve thousand mining jobs have disappeared in the state over the last few years -- and 70 percent of the vote went to Trump.
THE EXPERIENCE OF TIME
SHORT FILM: TEDWomen
THE EXPERIENCE OF TIME
This short film, which premiered at the TEDWomen 2016 conference, explores the history of humans' complicated relationship with time, deconstructs our obsession with controlling it, and contemplates how to be more mindful of this valuable resource.
FORAGER
SHORT FILM: BITTER SOUTHERNER
Tiffany Noé wanders the early-morning streets of Little Haiti in Miami. She’s north of Miami’s business downtown and across the bay from the neon lights and spring break parties on Miami Beach. Here, the streets are quiet, with some local residents popping out to say hello as Ms. Noé walks by. She’s searching for something that not many people take to the streets of north Miami to find: food.
WEST VIRGINIA STILL HOME
SHORT FILM: NYT OP-DOCS
McDowell County, situated in the coalfields of West Virginia, has experienced a great boom-and-bust since 1950. But despite the economic decline and population loss, many still call it home and feel a great sense of purpose among the mountains. Residents speak about their connection to this place and the meaning of "home." Featured as an Op-Doc for The New York Times.
FOR SEAMUS
SHORT FILM: NYT Op-Docs
This short film celebrates the life and work of Seamus Heaney, the most famous contemporary poet in Ireland.
Directed & Produced by Elaine McMillion Sheldon and Curren Sheldon
THE MARIJUANA DIVIDE
SHORT FILM: NYT Op-Docs
In Colorado, two towns near each other have divergent reactions to their state’s legalization of marijuana.