“Butte, America” debuts in January
Published: January 2, 2009
Montana-based Rattlesnake Productions, along with Emmy-nominated director/Producer Pamela Roberts and Butte writer Edwin Dobb will present the world premiere of “Butte, America,” on Saturday, Jan. 17, at Butte’s Mother Lode Theater. An extended 2009 Montana film tour will follow (Missoula, Kalispell, Great Falls, Livingston and Billings – local sponsors to be announced), including initial screenings at the Emerson Theater in Bozeman (Feb. 6) and the Myrna Loy Center in Helena (two showings on Feb. 21).
“Butte, America” will also be broadcast on national PBS, and on Montana Public Television under the sponsorship of KUSM/PBS Montana, in fall of 2009.
Narrated by Dublin-born Irish actor Gabriel Byrne, “Butte, America” tells the epic tale of Butte, once the world’s largest producer of the copper that plumbed and electrified America in the early 1900s. The Industrial Revolution collided with the romance of the frontier right here – on Butte’s “richest hill on earth.”
Corporate capitalism battled organized labor, and human appetite laid waste to land and water, yielding fortunes for a few and a tragic environmental legacy for the people left behind. Those people are the heart of the film – miners, their families and the multiethnic working-class neighborhoods they created amidst danger and hardship. Their toughness, vitality and solidarity are expressed through their own personal and family stories.
Roberts and director of photography Erik Daarstad shot more than 170 rolls of film, documenting conversations with miners and their families, interviews with scholars, period recreations, and breathtaking scenes of city and mining landscapes in and around Butte.
In the end, the writers and filmmakers whittled down nine years of work into a feature-length documentary film, covering 120 years of relevant Butte history in a way that is at once intimate and epic in scope.
“What drew me to Butte’s story most powerfully are the people of Butte, and the town’s unique and indomitable character as a community,” said Roberts, noting that the city produced over one-third of the world’s copper and employed over 16,000 miners at one time. “Butte is a place where one can still see the remnants of a world-class mining town and how this remarkable history – even today – plays a major role in the personal lives of the people and community.”
Co-writer and co-producer Edwin Dobb has been a major contributor and collaborator on “Butte, America” since the film’s inception in early 2000. Dobb, a fourth-generation descendant of Cornish tin miners and Irish copper miners, is a full-time independent writer.
Roberts is the creative and administrative force behind Rattlesnake Productions, Inc., a nonprofit production company based in Montana that has produced award-winning documentary films and videos for public television and for national and international theatrical and video distribution since 1983. Roberts also co-produced and co-directed, “Ishi, the Last Yahi,” a one-hour National Endowment for the Humanities documentary that was broadcast on American Experience and nominated for an Emmy Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Major funding for Butte, America was provided for by the National Endowment for the Humanities, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, and ITVS (the Independent Television and Video Services). Additional funding was made possible by Butte EPA, Montana Cultural Trust, Montana Committee for the Humanities, Montana Department of Commerce, Montana AFL-CIO and friends, the people of Butte, and many small foundations and individual contributions.
Coming to a theater near you
Show times for “Butte, America,” are:
Butte: 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, at the Mother Lode Theater; call 406-723-3602.
Bozeman: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6, at the Emerson Theater; the filmmakers participate in a panel discussion following the show. Call 406-587-9797.
Helena: 6 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Myrna Loy Center; the filmmakers participate in a panel discussion following the show. Call 406-443-0287.
All screenings are sponsored by KUSM-TV.
I have always enjoyed watching documentary more than the commercial cinema as the documentaries really have an amazing way of touching the core of our being and most of the times it helps to face life with much more awareness about the things happening around. it helps to understand the human feelings in an appropriate way with different perspectives. i really liked this documentary and i am glad to post my comment here.
I would like to purchase a copy of Butte America and would also like to know the date it will be shown on PBS. I was born and raised in Butte and lived there for many years. I now live in the Seattle area and will be unable to attend the shows in Montana. Please keep me informed. Thank you.
The producer sent this info. Hope it helps those who are anxious to see “Butte, America”
To request email notice when the film is broadcast on PBS, or put your name on the list to be notified when DVD’s become available for sale (Fall 2009; cost to be determined) , please email your request and contact information to: .
To obtain updated information on film screenings and DVD sales information, you can go to our website: butteamericafilm.org
I WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE A DVD OF THE FILM IF POSSIBLE. I WAS BORN IN BUTTE, BUT NOW LIVE IN CALIFORNIA. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THIS POSSIBLE..
`I was born and raised in Butte, the grandchid on both sides of Irish immigrants and miners, and the daughter of an Anaconda Co. executive who was raised on the Hill. I have lived in California for 35 years, but still regard Butte as my home. My brother has recently completed a short “coming of age” novel about the experiences of young men growing up in the rough Butte of the 1960s. I too would be interested to know how one might buy a copy of the documentary, and also when it will appear on PBS stations.
HI: I AM INQUIRING AS TO WHETHER OR NOT ONE MAY SOMEHOW PURCHASE A COPY OF “BUTTE, AMERICA” FROM SOME SOURCE. I AM SO TERRIBLY WANTING TO OWN A COPY OF THIS DOCUMENTARY, BUT AM UNABLE TO ATTEND SHOWS IN MONTANA. I LIVE IN NEVADA, BUT LIVED IN MONTANA IN THE PAST. BUTTE IS A HUGE PASSION OF MINE. I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS SHOW. ANY IDEAS?! ANY TELLING WHEN IT WILL SHOW ON PBS? I MUST FIND THIS: IT’S SO EXCITING FOR LOVERS OF BUTTE!!!
