On May 20 and May 29, the 2021 festival-winning film Rock Castle Home, created by filmmaker Charlie D. Thompson, is hosting two premiere screening events, both open to the public with limited tickets available for purchase.
ABOUT THE FILM: Rock Castle Home delves deep into the history of a 1930s Virginia mountain community displaced by the Blue Ridge Parkway. Told through the words of community members working to preserve their history and identity, Rock Castle Home tells a universal story about the human fight to preserve our stories despite the political, economic, and natural forces that seek to subsume them. Though generations removed, Rock Castle descendants today act as grassroots storytellers and archivists as they strive to hold onto their past through photographs, stories, and frequent returns to cemeteries and homesites. Watch the trailer.
May 20, 6:30 PM, Floyd Country Store: Join us at the Floyd Country Store on Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 6:30pm for Rock Castle Home: A Special Screening of a Film by Charlie Thompson. The show will have a limited in-person audience with live music by film composers, Andrew Small & Ashlee Watkins. In-person tickets are $15 and available for sale online only. Doors open at 6:30pm. Tickets available here.
May 29, 7:00 PM, Historic Grandin Theatre: Join us at the historic Grandin Theatre in Roanoke, VA on Saturday, May 29, 2021 at 7:00PM for an exclusive screening of Rock Castle Home. The show will have live music by The Hazy Mountain String Band followed by a Q&A with the filmmaking team. In-person tickets are $12+tax and available for sale online only. The event is sponsored by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. Tickets available here.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER: Charles D. Thompson, Jr. is a professor of Cultural Anthropology and Documentary Studies at Duke University. He holds a Ph.D. in Religion and Culture from UNC-Chapel Hill and an M.S. degree in Agricultural Education from NC A&T State University, an HBCU. A former farmer and rural organizer, Thompson focuses on rural life in the Americas. His specialties include farmworkers, immigration, agricultural justice, Appalachia, place, and pilgrimage. He hails from the Blue Ridge of Virginia, where generations of his ancestors farmed.
Virginia Humanities grant recipients are required to follow all CDC and Virginia guidelines regarding COVID safety for all in-person events. Given the distribution of our grantees across the state, we are unable to verify compliance at specific events. If you choose to attend, please take reasonable precautions.
