Documentary Film Salutes TVA’s First 75 Years
Published Feb 16, 2009
Dams on the Tennessee River and its tributaries transformed the Southeast forever.
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched his famous New Deal in 1933, along with it came the formation of the Tennessee Valley Authority. And though many are familiar with the electric utility that remains active today, few know the details of its 75-year history and the magnitude of its impact.
Now, thanks to Bicentennial Volunteers Inc., an organization of TVA retirees, a documentary film tells the story of TVA and the people of the Tennessee Valley.
TVA was the first comprehensive, organized effort to spur economic development in the impoverished Southeast, and its projects included building a series of hydroelectric dams on the Tennessee River and its tributaries.
“FDR launched the New Deal to kick-start the economy during the Great Depression, and that set TVA in motion,” says Brian Baker, media relations consultant for The Johnson Group, a Chattanooga-based advertising agency that worked with BVI on the 82-minute documentary, Built for the People. “Once it was signed into law, TVA grew and transformed the South, which was ravaged by flood and suffered from poor farming practices. TVA did a lot of good for a lot of people - they got flooding under control, provided electricity and taught farmers how to better farm their land.”
Academy Award-nominated directors Sean and Andrea Nix Fine were retained to bring TVA’s story to the big screen, and it premiered in several Tennessee Valley cities with free public showings beginning in September 2008. Built for the People also will be shown on the Documentary Channel at least 48 times in 2009.
“It really exceeded all our expectations, and BVI was extremely pleased with it,” Baker says. “We got great turnouts at the free screenings we had.”
More information is available at www.builtforthepeople.com. For a free copy of the DVD, contact Baker at (423) 424-3075.
Story by Jessica Mozo
Photo by Ian Curcio
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