Documentary Explores Changing Times of Tobacco

Source from:  By SUSAN ELZEY Register & Bee staff writer October 20, 2007 10/22/2007

The rise and fall of tobacco farming through the years, as told by friends and neighbors in the Dan River Region, will be highlighted in a special documentary set to air at 11 p.m. Sunday on local PBS affiliate WBRA. Several locals will be featured on "Down in the Old Belt: Voices from the Tobacco South" in a documentary that was filmed by cultural geographer James Crawford from 2001 through 2004, mainly in Pittsylvania, Halifax, Franklin and Henry counties. "It is the story of the tobacco farmers, not the tobacco industry, nor the politics of smoking, but the people who raised tobacco as a crop," Crawford said Thursday. The documentary is the first for Crawford, who has taught at Virginia Tech and Hollins University. He said the documentary, which was produced over an eight-year period, captures the changes to the tobacco industry from the perspective of the farmers who lived directly within the tobacco culture. "The tobacco farmers of the Old Belt of Virginia represent a history and a way of life that began with the founding of the colonies on the Chesapeake Bay," he said. "It was the gold of Jamestown, the birthplace of our nation. Now, in the storied landscape of the Old Belt, tobacco farmers speak to the end of a culture 400 years in the making." He said the tobacco farmers in Southside Virginia, like coal miners in Appalachia, have come upon hard times. "Overseas production, declining quotas, society's changing attitudes toward tobacco and the recent buyout ending the tobacco allotment program have forever altered the cultural landscape of the Old Belt, the birthplace of Bright Leaf tobacco," Crawford said. The documentary is derived from the oral histories of 26 families and others involved in the production aspect of the farming of tobacco, he said. "These tobacco farmers tell their stories, not for sympathy, but to reveal what is fading in the wake of this change," he said. "Their stories personify the cultural evolution occurring in agriculture throughout the United States today." Some of the local people whose interviews are featured on the documentary are C.D. Bryant III, state Sen. Charles Hawkins, Danville historian Gary Grant, Vivian Giles, Lewis and Nancy Gregory, Bobby Conner and Bob Cage, a world champion tobacco auctioneer from South Boston. The documentary is Crawford's first and was screened at the Library of Congress in July. It also received a commendation in 2006 from the Virginia General Assembly, won first place in the Appalachian Film Festival and earned, among other recognitions, the 2006 Heritage Award by the Roanoke Valley. "Tuesday night was the first PBS broadcast of 'Down in the Old Belt,'" Crawford said. "My wife and I decided we had to see the first broadcast, so we drove up to a friend's in Charlottesville and watched it. "It was very satisfying seeing it on PBS, finally, and seeing everyone in the film, their images and voices broadcast to unknown homes throughout Virginia and beyond. It looked great, nestled in there after Frontline. "A friend called this morning and said he thought Old Belt held its own with the big boys." The documentary will be aired on 129 PBS stations across the nation, including all the Virginia and North Carolina PBS stations. DVDs of the documentary are available online at www.swinginggateproductions.com or by mail at Swinging Gate Productions, 822 13th Street, SW, Roanoke, VA 24016. The cost is $34.45, which includes tax and shipping. Enditem