Built for the People: The Story of TVA to Premier in Knoxville
NOTE: The following is a release for the movie Built for the People,
The only movie in history that can claim a U.S. President as its producer is the movie event of the year—and it’s premiering in Knoxville, Tennessee, with free public showings on Tuesday, September 30 and Wednesday, October 1.
Built for the People – the story of the Tennessee Valley and the Tennessee Valley Authority – is a story that began when President Franklin D. Roosevelt created TVA, mobilizing an entire nation into action to lift the South out of the grips of the Great Depression. It’s a story that shows how the people of the Tennessee Valley, living in a land ravaged by flood, found their salvation in water and ushered in the Atomic Age.
It’s a story so momentous President Roosevelt called it “one of the great social and economic achievements of the United States,” and, 75 years later, Academy Award® nominated directors Sean and Andrea Nix Fine are bringing that story to the big screen for everyone to see.
“This film is a story told through the eyes and experience of the people who helped make FDR’s vision for the Valley a reality,” said Sean Fine. “It’s a story about the fortitude of the human will, made more powerful because we have this amazing backdrop—the Tennessee Valley—to weave in and out of the story.”
According to Bob Steffy, Executive Director of Bicentennial Volunteers Incorporated, the film’s producer in concert with Documentary Channel®, this is a must-see movie for anyone who lives in the Tennessee Valley. “We’re excited about premiering Built for the People to the residents of Knoxville. The film is a tribute to the people of this community—and many thousands more across the Valley—who dedicated their lives to working with TVA to change the course of history,” says Steffy.
And, because that change did not come easily, BVI, which also financed the production, hopes this film will inspire, inform, engage and educate new generations about the sacrifices made to turn around the Valley’s fortunes.
“In order to tell this story to a new generation,” continues Steffy, “we’ve partnered with Documentary Channel to help us premiere the film at the Tennessee Theatre on Tuesday, September 30, at 7 p.m., and at the Knoxville Museum of Art on Wednesday, October 1, with showings at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (seats for the public screening will be available on a first-come basis). It’s also being televised on Documentary Channel this fall, but we wanted to give everyone a chance to see it on the big screen for free before then.”
BVI is a non-profit organization founded by TVA retirees in 1975. The group conducts a variety of volunteer activities such as teaching water safety to schoolchildren and staffing visitor centers at various TVA facilities. Through BVI, retirees assist TVA on short-term projects and perform disaster-relief work for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
For more information about the film, visit www.builtforthepeople.com.
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