The Mountain Minor

The Mountain Minor is a 2019 American drama film written, directed and co-produced by Dale Farmer, produced by Susan Pepper, and starring Dan Gellert, Elizabeth LaPrelle, Ma Crow, Asa Nelson, Hazel Pasley, Jonathan Bradshaw, Warren Waldron, Amy Cogan Clay, Judy Waldron, Trevor McKenzie and Mike Oberst. The film is noted for its on-screen performances of old-time music commonly associated with Appalachia. Plot During the Great Depression, Vestal Abner, his wife Oza and their young son Charlie reluctantly move from their impoverished farm in Eastern Kentucky to Ohio, where Vestal has found a job. As Charlie grows up and eventually marries his childhood friend, Ruthie, he yearns to return to his boyhood home in the mountains, never losing his passion for the traditional mountain music of his ancestors. Cast Dan Gellert as Charlie Abner Ma Crow as Ruth Abner Asa Nelson as Young Charlie Hazel Pasley as Young Ruth Elizabeth LaPrelle as Oza Abner Jonathan Bradshaw as Vestal Abner Warren Waldron as Tom Abner Amy Cogan Clay as Dellie Abner Judy Waldron as Granny Whit Chuck Blackburn as Dan Mike Oberst as Willie Abner Trevor McKenzie as Ves Abner Susan Pepper as Sandra Abner Tracy Jarrell as Kim Abner Aaron Wolfe as Jimmie Abner Alison Moretz as Julie Abner Lucas Pasley as Hershel Abner Betty Wolfe as Hershel's Wife Wyatt Wolfe as Hershel's Grandson Naomi Jarrell as Willie Abner (baby) Rhoda Bradshaw as Sarah Abner Hubbard Bradshaw as Charlie Abner (toddler) James Moretz as Sandra Abner's Husband Josie Moretz as Sandra Abner's Daughter The Tillers (Mike Oberst, Sean Geal, Aaron Geal, Joe Macheret) as The Willie Abner Band Walton Conway as Man On Road Carolina Conway as Woman On Road Ed Pilkington as Elder Alton Radcliff Wade Wilmoth as Funeral Minister Gary Sampson as Ron Jean Pence as Jean Nick Schraub as Mark Cecil Gurganus as Square Dance Fiddler Dakota Phillips as Southgate House Audience Maria Carrelli as Southgate House Audience Brenton McMusiclover as Southgate House Audience Hannah Peacock as Southgate House Audience Zane Thompson as Southgate House Audience Background Writer-director Dale Farmer made The Mountain Minor as a tribute to Appalachian culture and music, with the intention of portraying the characters realistically, not in the stereotypical manner in which mountain people are often depicted in film and television.