Welcome to heatcar productions

Welcome to HeatCar Productions

The Telling Takes Me Home

Not many of us are tempted to make movies about our parents' lives. But as story subjects, the lives of Guy and Candie Carawan are extraordinarily obliging.

The musical pair have been intimately associated with folk-music legends like Pete Seeger and Ramblin' Jack Elliott. During the hottest years of the civil-rights movement, they helped activist groups like SNCC prepare for their effective actions in the Deep South, especially through their longtime connection to East Tennessee's once-controversial Highlander Folk School. Both have been on extended trips abroad, performing and studying music in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Both have been in trouble with the law over matters of principle. And their most famous contribution to the culture was their assistance in birthing several great anthems of the civil-rights movement, most famously a previously little known song called "We Shall Overcome" joined the battle for civil rights; today Guy Carawan is credited as one of the song's writers.

Not surprisingly, both of their kids are talented: Evan's the hammered-dulcimer virtuoso; Heather's the filmmaker. A recent graduate of the MFA program at San Francisco State University, she'll be on hand for this Knoxville premiere of her 30-minute documentary, The Telling Takes Me Home, sponsored by the Knox County Public Library.

Carpetbag Theater director Linda Parris Bailey will serve as MC for the evening, which will include performances by the Carawan family and their friends. (Jack Neely)

The Telling Takes Me Home, a film by Heather Carawan
Saturday, May 21, 7:30 p.m.
East Tennessee History Center, Gay Street at Clinch
Free