{"id":55737,"date":"2026-10-27T17:28:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T15:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=55737"},"modified":"2026-10-27T17:37:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T15:37:48","slug":"tlvfest-2026-a-womans-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=55737","title":{"rendered":"TLVFEST 2026: A Woman’s Work"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Woman’s Work\/Photo courtesy of PR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Woman\u2019s Work<\/em>, A. R. Ephraim\u2019s debut feature, is set in 2006, in Harlan County, an Appalachian coal mining town in Eastern Kentucky. A beautiful and moving work, the film is strongly grounded in the place, its history of coal mining, and its people, as well as the experience of being different in a small town. Louisa Harland, who portrayed Rowan in Hamnet<\/em>, as well as the wonderfully odd Orla in Derry Girls<\/em>, delivers a mesmerizing performance as Jolene Harper. Imbuing the character with warmth, intelligence and humor – she\u2019s the kind of person you would want as your friend or neighbor, or your partner in the dark depths of a coal mine.<\/p>\n

After the death of their parents, Jolene has taken on the responsibility of caring for her two younger sisters, supporting their small family by working in the coal mines. Although it\u2019s dangerous work, with the risk of roof collapses, explosions or suffocation, as well as the long-term impact of coal dust inhalation, and because<\/em> it\u2019s dangerous, it\u2019s one of the best-paying jobs in the area. But as a woman, Jolene is a rarity in the predominantly male coal mining workforce, and prey to disapproving commentary. As a lesbian, she tries to keep a low profile in her very conservative community, but it\u2019s hard to keep a secret in a small town.<\/p>\n

In the first half of the 20th century, the Harlan County economy was based on coal mining, but as the coal industry declined, and no other industry came in to replace it, the population decreased and poverty increased. Coal miners are vulnerable to work-related injuries and the ensuing pain and amplified by the targeting of rural areas for aggressive marketing and the resulting over-prescription of opioids, addiction became a serious problem in the region. The film describes the harsh realities of Harlan County without resorting to stereotypes or veering into sentimentality. In this strong character-based film, even the secondary characters are given room to change and grow.<\/p>\n

Mining is physically grueling, and Jolene works nights, coming home in the morning with aching muscles and covered in coal dust, to spend time during the day with her sisters, and she does it all with so much love. 16-year-old Lara (Emma Duchesneau) floats on a cloud of romance with her boyfriend Judd (Braden Bell), and Jolene is determined to dissuade her from making a mistake that will ruin her future. She teaches six-year-old Emmy (Shelby Mullins) to hunt and fish, passing on the knowledge that she learned from their father. As the eldest, Jolene has memories of their father before the years in the mines and addiction took their toll. There is a poignant conversation between Jolene and Lara, as the latter accuses Jolene of giving Emmy a glorified image of their father, who could lash out in anger. When Jolene defends his memory, talking about what coal mining can do to a person, going down into the dark mine every day, knowing the risks, and knowing that this is your future, day after day \u2013 she is describing her own life as well.<\/p>\n

There is not much to look forward to in Harlan County of 2006. As the sisters drive to church past empty storefronts, Jolene tells Lara that \u201call these buildings used to be something.\u201d But there is not much use for a furniture store if no one can afford to buy new furniture. Some dream of escape, leaving Harlan to build a better life somewhere else. Over the course of the film, Jolene is confronted with difficult decisions \u2013 what to do about Lara\u2019s youthful fantasies and her sweet, yet rather aimless boyfriend Judd, how to deal with an interfering aunt, how to ensure a good life for Emmy, and how, despite all the obstacles, to find her own happiness. The choices she makes are not necessarily the obvious ones, but all are made with an open, loving, and courageous heart.<\/p>\n

A Woman\u2019s Work<\/em> is a paean to everyday heroes like Jolene, those who labor unsung as they persevere and strive despite harsh conditions yet never lose their sense of compassion and joy.<\/p>\n

A Woman’s Work will be screened at TLVFEST 2026 on Thursday, October 29th at 17:30, followed by a discussion with the film’s director A. R. Ephraim. Tickets may be ordered on the TLVFEST website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Woman\u2019s Work<\/p>\n

US\/2026\/91 min\/English<\/p>\n

Written and directed by A.R. Ephraim; Cinematography: Nate Spicer; Editing: John Gilbert; Cast: Louisa Harland, Emma Duchesneau, Shelby Mullins, Braden Bell, Alice Kremelberg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Woman\u2019s Work, A. R. Ephraim\u2019s debut feature, is set in 2006, in Harlan County, an Appalachian coal mining town in Eastern Kentucky. A beautiful and moving work, the film is strongly grounded in the place, its history of coal mining, and its people, as well as the experience of being different in a small […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":55738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[699,700,638,100,96,217,213],"class_list":["post-55737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-appalachia","tag-coal-mining","tag-family-relationships","tag-festival","tag-film","tag-lgbtq","tag-tlvfest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55737"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55740,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55737\/revisions\/55740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}