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The West Virginia Filmmakers Film Festival

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Featured Filmmakers

Ray and Judy Schmitt's

The Texture of Life: The Tusing Sisters of Branch Mountain

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West Virginia's most productive filmmaker, premiered his latest effort, "The Texture of Life: The Tusing Sisters of Branch Mountain," at the Lost River Museum and the Hardy County Public Library in October. The film is based on a short story written by Shepherdstown resident Kathy Sholl, and is a flashback of when she was a young girl from the city visiting her maiden aunts on their farm located on top of Branch Mountain in Lost River, Hardy County. The aunts, Ora and Lynn Tusing, were well known for their spinning and weaving, as well as their Mennonite lifestyle. The two sisters managed 200 acres of land, caring for cows, hogs, chickens and sheep and living life the "old-fashioned way." In 1972, representatives from the Smithsonian Institute visited the sister's to witness their weaving on a loom. The film is 28 minutes long.

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and

LuLu: Triumph of the Human Spirit

"LuLu: Triumph of the Human Spirit," a New Documentary by Judy and Ray Schmitt (39 min.) Real Earth Productions Lucien Ferrenbach-a French metal sculptor, painter, boat builder and sailor-is profiled in this new documentary by Judy and Ray Schmitt. Growing up in Nazi-occupied France, Lulu overcame a serious racing bike accident that broke his neck to lead a life free from all tethers. He left his profession as a world-class metal sculptor to build and sail his own boat around the world. In Panama, Lulu is befriended by a Smithsonian geologist and he and his wife Bibi are invited to come back to live in West Virginia. This documentary is about their camaraderie and voyage from Bocas del Toro off! the western coast of Panama to the Chesapeake Bay. It is also about the triumph of the human spirit.

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