Sunday Film Club: Movies by Women [1]

Hauntingly beautiful folk music and stunning Appalachian scenery take center stage in “Songcatcher,” winner of the 2000 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for outstanding ensemble performance. After being denied a promotion at the university where she teaches, Doctor Lily Penleric, a brilliant musicologist, impulsively visits her sister, who runs a struggling rural school in Appalachia. Here she makes the discovery of her life - a treasure trove of ancient Scots-Irish ballads, songs that have been handed down from generation to generation, preserved intact by the seclusion of the mountains. Her high-minded, refined ways quickly clash with the locals, but Lily finds herself increasingly enchanted - not only by the rugged purity of the music, but also by the raw courage and endurance of the local people as they carve out meaningful lives against the harshest conditions. 1999 112 min PG-13