True Meaning Of Pictures, The
- Release Information
- September 7, 2002
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- September 7, 2002
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- September 7, 2002
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- September 7, 2002
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- September 7, 2002
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- September 7, 2002
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- September 7, 2002
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- September 7, 2002
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- September 7, 2002
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- September 7, 2002
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- September 7, 2002
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- September 7, 2002
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- September 7, 2002
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- September 7, 2002
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- September 7, 2002
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- September 7, 2002
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- November 13, 2002
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- January 17, 2003
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- Toronto
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- Toronto (Bloor: Doc Soup)
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- Sundance, Park City UT
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- February 12, 2003
- TV TVOntario 22h00
- Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)
- Budget
- Distributors
Production Details
- Producer
- Jennifer Baichwal
- Jennifer Baichwal
- Jennifer Baichwal
- Nicholas de Pencier
- Nicholas de Pencier
- Nicholas de Pencier
- Jennifer Baichwal
- Jennifer Baichwal
- Jennifer Baichwal
- Nicholas de Pencier
- Nicholas de Pencier
- Nicholas de Pencier
- Director
- Jennifer Baichwal
- Jennifer Baichwal
- Jennifer Baichwal
- Jennifer Baichwal
- Jennifer Baichwal
- Jennifer Baichwal
- Director of Photography
- Nicholas de Pencier
- Nicholas de Pencier
- Nicholas de Pencier
- Nicholas de Pencier
- Editor
- David Wharnsby
- David Wharnsby
- David Wharnsby
- David Wharnsby
- David Wharnsby
- David Wharnsby
- David Wharnsby
- David Wharnsby
- David Wharnsby
For over 30 years Shelby Lee Adams has been photographing the mountain people living in a rural region of eastern Kentucky where he grew up.
The film juxtaposes the filmmakers' colour footage of Adams and his subjects, documentary footage shot by Adams on video, again in colour, of the mountain families, and Adams' black and white still photographs.
In the film we meet the Childers, an unusually happy family who have struggled for years to keep three mentally challenged children at home, the Napier family, who lost ten children to violent deaths and live without running water or electricity, and an outlawed sect of the Pentecostal Holiness church whose members drink strychnine and handle rattlesnakes to prove their faith in God.
Many question Adams' work and methods. Seen in galleries and in books, do his depictions of eastern Kentucky's mountain communities reinforce "hillbilly" stereotypes or do they simply document a way of life far-removed from modern American culture?
Historically, the people of Appalachia have been labelled by mainstream America as inbred, violent and lazy. The film examines the history of representation in the region and the current attitude towards it while offering comments by critics with conflicting views on the nature of Adams' work. More importantly the film shows the back story to what are essentially works of art rather than documentation.
Source: Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Feature Film Database (LAC)