Centralia

Overview

This portrait of Centralia, Pennsylvania—a near ghost town slowly consumed by what lies beneath—captures the blighted and largely depopulated landscape, widely known as the inspiration for the horror franchise Silent Hill, as well as the futile efforts of government agencies to contain the catastrophe and control the local population. Devoid of dialogue or diegetic sound, the film is set to the entirety of Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes, the LP by Columbia Icefield (Nate Wooley), excavating a sense of synchronicity between the unaltered soundtrack, particularly its use of field recordings, and the uncanny ruins of a once-thriving community of coal miners.