Mining Memories
Celebrate 50 years of the Copper Queen Mine Tour with the world premiere of a documentary at the Royale Film Festival
When Bisbee’s Copper Queen Mine ceased production in 1975, then-mayor Chuck Eads paved the way for a tourist attraction that shifted the town’s economy from mining to tourism. Fifty years later, with the mine tour still enlightening visitors from all over the world, students in the Bisbee High School Film/TV Production program, under the leadership of Brianna Young, have made a documentary that honors the town’s legacy.
The one-hour documentary, Mining Memories: 50 Years of the Copper Queen Mine Tour, will have its first public screening at the Bisbee Royale on Thursday, June 4, kicking off the third annual Royale Film Festival. Covering the history of not only the mine and the tour, but the entire town of Bisbee and its unique character, the film is destined to become “required viewing for all visitors and new arrivals,” according to festival curator and host Danny Hercules.
Residents who attend the free opening night event are likely to see people they know on the big screen. Participants interviewed for the film include Steve Knipp, Neal Blume, Francisco “Frank” Tapia, Joseph Giamalis, Stephanie Badurski, Mike Anderson, and mine tour manager Douglas Graeme, who co-produced the film with Young and Buc Erkin. Additional archival interview footage from 1983 features Bisbee residents H.B. McDoniel, Marianne Puzzi, Sue Ray, Leon Haskell, Darleen McAle, Mary Conlogue, and former mayors Eads and Mike “Lefty” Lazovich.
Now in its third year, the Royale Film Festival brings the cinematic arts back to the arts-friendly former mining town that has attracted movie stars from Rosco “Fatty” Arbuckle to John Wayne to The Terminator’s Michael Biehn with 50 international independent films, including documentaries, narrative films, features, shorts, animation, horror, musicals, comedy, drama, and more for the first three weekends in June. All festival events are free to attend and open to the public. The rest of the lineup was announced last week. Visit the festival’s website for additional details.