BRAMWELL — A British view of the United States of America is airing tonight on BBC America, and local viewers who see it just might recognize parts of their neighborhoods.
“The American Future: A History by Simon Schama” is a four part documentary that was filmed during the presidential election of 2008. Its producer, historian Simon Schama of Columbia University, looks at four the critical issues facing the United States: war, religious or moral fervor, immigration, and the relationship between the expectations of prosperity and the reality of economic and environmental limits, according to BBC America.
Areas such as the Town of Bramwell, Green Valley near the City of Princeton and the Town of Pocahontas, Va. were filmed along with the community of Thurmond and the New River Gorge when Schama and his crew visited the region, said Bramwell Mayor Lou Stoker.
The show featuring the area — Episode 3, What is an American? — airs tonight at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. on BBC America.
“It’s appropriate that it will be on the day our new president in inaugurated,” Stoker said Monday. “I like knowing that we are on international television, and that we are seeing the two states (West Virginia and Virginia) being presented to the world. They were in a little church in Doran, Va. one Sunday, and one week later they were at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.”
Schama and his film crew taped a train going through the Coopers area between Bramwell and Pocahontas, Va., Stoker said. The crew also filmed at the Little Opry in Green Valley near Princeton.
Pocahontas, Va. was visited twice by the BBC crew, said local historian Tom Childress, who has worked on restoration and preservation in the town.
“They found it to be a place that showed the industrial development of the United States,” Childress said. “There’s still plenty in Pocahontas to be saved.”
— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Local News
January 19, 2009
Bramwell to be featured on BBC America series tonight
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