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Documentary honored
at Region Emmy Awards
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| Popcorn Sutton at his last liquor still |
“The Last One,” a locally produced documentary film featuring moonshiner Popcorn Sutton, received an Emmy at the 35th Emmy Awards Southeast recently in Atlanta. The film depicts Sutton distilling his final batch of illegal liquor, while interviews with Appalachian folklorists, storytellers, and noted authors explore the role of moonshine in Appalachian history and identity.
The affable Sutton dominates the film, weaving explanations of points of craft with stories of a lifetime of experiences in the moonshine trade.
Popcorn Sutton’s fame grew exponentially this past March when he committed suicide following a series of highly publicized moonshine busts. He was scheduled to report for an 18-month prison term and elected instead to end his life. Obituaries appeared in publications around the country, including the Washington Post and New York Times.
“Popcorn’s death underscores the cultural preservation value of films like ‘The Last One,’ a fact that I doubt escaped the Emmy selection committee,” said Neal Hutcheson, producer and director of “The Last One.”
The film is peppered with mountain personality —banjo music and Appalachia dialect that is entertaining, while the liquor still procedure is educational in that it was not only a way of life for some, but also a way to put groceries on the table. Liquor stilling could also be described as art, in the sense that minute details made a difference. If the fire was too hot, the steam turned to water, ruining the liquor.
Popcorn Sutton could also be described as scientist, to a degree. He could shake a fresh run of liquor in a half-gallon jug and tell you what proof it was by the way bubbles formed.
The liquor still site that Popcorn Sutton created was definitely a work of art, using the bare essentials. He gathered mountain rocks to bank the furnace, then used mountain clay to seal it.
“The Last One” was produced by Sucker Punch Pictures and funded in part by grants from the North Carolina Arts Council and United Arts of Wake County. Hutcheson is best known for his collaborations with linguist Walt Wolfram at N.C. State University, including the popular documentary “Mountain Talk,” which laid the groundwork for several further documentaries, including the PBS release “The Queen Family,” “The Last One,” and a dramatic film, Gary Carden’s “The Prince of Dark Corners.”
The affable Sutton dominates the film, weaving explanations of points of craft with stories of a lifetime of experiences in the moonshine trade.
Popcorn Sutton’s fame grew exponentially this past March when he committed suicide following a series of highly publicized moonshine busts. He was scheduled to report for an 18-month prison term and elected instead to end his life. Obituaries appeared in publications around the country, including the Washington Post and New York Times.
“Popcorn’s death underscores the cultural preservation value of films like ‘The Last One,’ a fact that I doubt escaped the Emmy selection committee,” said Neal Hutcheson, producer and director of “The Last One.”
The film is peppered with mountain personality —banjo music and Appalachia dialect that is entertaining, while the liquor still procedure is educational in that it was not only a way of life for some, but also a way to put groceries on the table. Liquor stilling could also be described as art, in the sense that minute details made a difference. If the fire was too hot, the steam turned to water, ruining the liquor.
Popcorn Sutton could also be described as scientist, to a degree. He could shake a fresh run of liquor in a half-gallon jug and tell you what proof it was by the way bubbles formed.
The liquor still site that Popcorn Sutton created was definitely a work of art, using the bare essentials. He gathered mountain rocks to bank the furnace, then used mountain clay to seal it.
“The Last One” was produced by Sucker Punch Pictures and funded in part by grants from the North Carolina Arts Council and United Arts of Wake County. Hutcheson is best known for his collaborations with linguist Walt Wolfram at N.C. State University, including the popular documentary “Mountain Talk,” which laid the groundwork for several further documentaries, including the PBS release “The Queen Family,” “The Last One,” and a dramatic film, Gary Carden’s “The Prince of Dark Corners.”
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diane davis wrote on Jan 16, 2010 11:07 AM: