A Showcase of Deep West Videos

Since 2000 the Western Folklife Center has been working with rural people in the West to provide a forum for telling their stories through the new and accessible tools of digital communications. In 2007 the W.K. Kellogg Foundation stepped up to help us expand the program. With Old West, New West: Grabbing the Future by the Horns, we sought submissions for videos that explored the changing West, and what that means for men and women grounded in rural life. What are the challenges, triumphs, and surprises of country living in the 21st Century? How are the rural ingenuity and creativity born out of the Old West, being put to use in the New West? We asked for stories that were simple and specific. We were not interested in reporter-style television news productions; first-person and from the heart is what we found most compelling in these homegrown videos.

The Old West, New West Video initiative is supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. We hope you enjoy the good works and appreciate all the effort that has gone into producing these pieces. If you know of a place where these videos should be shown: an educational setting, a club, a festival, or celebration, let us know and we might be able to help. We want these works to redefine, "ready for primetime." 

Deep West Video Curator and Executive Producer - Taki Telonidis This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Western Folklife Center Founding Director - Hal Cannon
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Growing Home - 6:55

Tuda Libby Crews and her neighbors in Harding County New Mexico take their region's failing economy into their own hands. (2008 Tuda Libby Crews, Bueyeros NM.

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What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? - 7:15

Kristin Windbigler reflects on the "outlaw" reputation of the small town where she grew up as a child, and why she's decided to leave the city and move back home despite what others may say about it. (2008) Kristin Windbigler, Blocksburg CA.

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From Logs to Lots - 7:33

In the past few years, Kier Atherton's hometown has undergone a transformation from a sleepy logging village to a "go to" destination for recreation. Kier looks at what happens to a place once it's "discovered." (2008) Kier Atherton, Missoula MT.

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Joe McCormack's Homeland - 8:05

Joe McCormack takes us on a personal journey to a section of the Nez Perce ancestral homeland, and talks about how he and his tribe are using this spot to teach the food-gathering and spiritual traditions of the Nez Perce. (2008) Joe McCormack with Gwendolyn Trice, Joseph OR.

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Boarding Out - 8:05

In rural places, ranch families have a tough decision to make when their kids finish elementary school, and the nearest high school is in town an hour or two away. This is the story of the Wright family, and their decision to split up - with mom and kids moving to town and dad working the ranch alone. (2008) Glynis Wright, Tuscarora NV and Susan Church, North Fork NV.

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Range War - 6:26

A recounting of how a series of practical jokes escalated to the point of all-out war between the filmmaker and a neighbor who lives up the road in rural eastern Oregon. (2008) Whit Deschner, Sparta OR.

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Purchase the 2008 Deep West Videos, which includes a selection of Old West, New West Videos, in our online Gift Shop .