The Hills I Call Home (2021)
Directed by Ashton Gleckman
Distributed by Gravitas Ventures
Produced by Ashton Gleckman, Miriam Sternlicht, Samantha Maynard, and Peter Mosby
Ashton Gleckman, director and founder of Blackbird Pictures, started planning for The Hills I Call Home while wrapping up post-production for his last documentary, We Shall Not Die Now. The film premiered at the Heartland International Film Festival and sold-out four screenings. Most notably, We Shall Not Die Now was awarded the Audience Choice Award for the Indiana Spotlight category. It wasn’t before long, Ashton had his eyes on his next film. This is where The Hills I Call Home originated.
Like many people, Ashton grew up hearing about the region of Appalachia. Unfortunately, his views were greatly skewed by various films feeding into negative stereotypes. The first major example of this was Warner Brothers’ 1972 film, Deliverance. With a deep interest in the history of Appalachia and the community of individuals who occupy the region, Ashton set off into the mountains of Eastern Kentucky to explore for himself all that Appalachia had to offer. After driving through various towns, Ashton came across a sign that read “Beattyville.” Shortly thereafter, Ashton stumbled into the town hall where the mayor, Scott Jackson, was sitting in the front lobby. After a four-hour conversation with Jackson, Ashton knew exactly what his next film was going to be. And it was going to be in Appalachia.
In the months to follow, Ashton worked between Indianapolis and Beattyville, preparing for production. During this time, Ashton met with Beattyville residents, got familiar with the streets and hollers of Beattyville, and enjoyed the stunning landscape of Appalachia. Ashton interviewed individuals from Beattyville, as well as individuals located at various universities. For example, Western Kentucky University, Waynesville and Asheville North Carolina, the University of Virginia at Wise, University of Kentucky, and Indiana University. Ashton also spent a week exploring the backroads of Kentucky filming B-Roll..
Production in Beattyville began on June 1st and went on until June 20th. Ashton is grateful for his production assistants, and executive producers, who made his life much easier during the process. The crew for The Hills I Call Home included Ashton, who was behind the camera and conducting the interviews, Trey Brown, who was the line producer, and Pete Mosby, who was Ashton’s personal assistant and helped with transportation.
For the musical score, Ashton collaborated once again with Austrian composer, Michael Frankenberger. The film also features a song by the music group, Jamestown Revival, who are signed by Sony Music Publishing.
Blackbird Pictures hopes this film will begin its film festival run in early 2021, resulting in a spring release via digital streaming platforms. Updates will follow on this website.
