NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD FOR THE FIRST TIME
Directed by: Scott Faulkner, Anthony Slone, and Jack Wright
1985
Running Time: 58:00
Color
During the 1920s and '30s, the records and radio shows of A.P. Carter, his wife Sara, and sister-in-law Maybelle spread the music of the southern mountains around the world and earned the Carter family international fame. Sunny Side of Life celebrates the legacy of this country music dynasty by focusing on the Carter Family Fold in Maces Spring, Virginia--an old-time music hall founded in 1975 by Janette, Joe, and Gladys, the children of A.P. and Sara Carter. Sunny Side of Life features Saturday night performances at the Fold by such artists as the Home Folks, Red Clay Ramblers, and Hot Mud Family, as well as lots of flatfooting and clogging by the audience.
The film includes a history of the Carter Family and an examination of the way old-time music continues to be integrated into the life of this community.
Reviews
"A wonderful documentary." -Alan Jabbour, Director, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
"A moving, spirited, joyous film." -David Holt, musician and host on the Nashville Network
"Surpasses any documentary I have seen in articulating the emotional ties which lie at the heart of old-time country music and the Appalachian experience." -Richard Blaustein, Director, Center for Appalachian Studies and Services, East Tennessee State University
"The music speaks in an infectious, unaffected way. Highly recommended." -Choice
Screenings & Festivals
American Film Festival--Finalist
Athens International Film Festival
Ann Arbor Film Festival
Big Muddy Film Festival
Festival Internacional de Cinema/Figueria da Foz, Portugal
Film Festival Rotterdam
Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute
The Southern Circuit
UCLA Film and Folklore Festival
