ashley york here
the award-winning director of the netflix original documentary, tig & hillbilly
Ashley York co-directed Hillbilly, which was released on Hulu and Al Jazeera in 2019. Hillbilly won six Best Documentary Awards, including at regional festivals such as the Boone Film Festival and the grand jury prize at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Hillbilly won a London Foreign Press Award, a special jury prize from Michael Moore at his Traverse City Film Festival, and it toured around the world as part of the American Film Showcase. It also led to a commission for a short film called Appalachian Futures, which was financed and on display at the Smithsonian. The film featured Silas House, Frank X Walker, and bell hooks.
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A FILM MADE IN SOLIDARITY WITH OUR COMMUNITY
Our work is in response to more than 100 years of media representations. The nature of the film examines the perspective presented in the recent Time Magazine article: The Demonization of Rural America. That article argues that “finding solutions is the harder work and the right work. That work requires that everyone has a voice and a seat at the table—especially the people who have historically been excluded. If we can find the courage to set aside classist prejudice, we might discover that there are no throwaway places and more importantly, no throwaway people. Not even hillbillies like me,” its author writes.
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
Since I began my career in media as a journalist, I have been motivated to tell stories that elevate the perspectives of those not often seen in commercial media. I connect deeply to stories about the rural working poor and am motivated by innovative approaches to storytelling, and by the desire to give voice to people who have been underserved, unheard, or misrepresented. This commitment was born out of my own personal experience growing up in a homogeneous rural community in the coal fields of
eastern Kentucky.
As a sixth generation Appalachian, I developed at an early age, a critical understanding and response to classism, income inequality, and curiosity for how the practice of journalism and storytelling could allow me to ask questions and interrogate systems of dominance and power. This endless curiosity has informed my life and work as a journalist, documentary maker, business owner, and professor. I am inspired by filmmakers who have made socially provocative films such as Barbara Kopple’s Academy-Award winning documentary, Harlan County USA (1976)—a film that showed me the power of cinematic journalism in its portrayal of a coal miners' strike in southeast Kentucky. This example inspired my practice as a filmmaker to take great care—and be accountable—to
documentary participants.
My work directly involves the practice of involving individuals and communities to move from passive to active participants in the telling of their stories. My films blend the personal, political, and emotional with real world impact campaigns and initiatives. I have collaborated with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, the International Crisis Group, and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
I founded and run Hazeltime, a women led creative studio committed to ethical producing practices, challenging the boundaries of storytelling, and reimagining narratives and business models through a socially conscious lens. Hazeltime is committed to an intersectional feminist approach, advocating for parity in the entertainment industry, and creating an equitable work environment that welcomes moms and dads and values the needs of working people. Hazeltime stands in solidarity with the documentary community and its efforts to form a labor movement for documentary makers.
our friends, our heroes …
This film centers the themes of celebrating Appalachian identity, and reimagining Appalachia as a region with opportunities for youth. “We want a hopeful future. We want liberation and freedom,” says Meykah Davis, co-chair of The Stay Project, a network of young people, aged 14-30, who are committed to supporting one another to make Appalachia a place they can and want to STAY. The Stay Project is a catalyst for grassroots organizing and movement building in Appalachia and the South. It works with people fighting for justice, equality and sustainability, supporting their efforts to take collective action to shape their own destiny.