Core Sounders Premieres

If you make your way down the Outer Banks of the North Carolina Coast as far south and east as you possibly can go, you will find yourself “down east.”

You may think you’ve ferried into an immigrant community from the accents you  hear, but the community that inhabits the Core Sound is anything but new to the land and waters of Carteret County. The Core Sounders aren’t new to the film world, either.

Their unique dialect was the topic of a documentary created five years ago, The Carolina Brogue, directed by Neal Hucheson and produced by Walt Wolfram, as part of the North Carolina Language and Life Program at NC State University. It was this first film that inspired Hucheson — an Emmy Award-winning director — and Wolfram, an NC State University Distinguished Professor, to return to the coast for another documentary: CORE.SOUNDERS .

With a release in March 2013, CORE.SOUNDERS explores the lifestyle of the down east community. For these coastal residents, commercial fishing is not just a job; it has been their lifestyle for three centuries. Their distinctive way of life, along with their dialect, is a result of sustained seclusion. But with the decline of commercial fishing, the erosion of one of the oldest North Carolina communities is imminent.

CORE.SOUNDERS will premiere at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh on March 14, 2013, during an evening showcasing the Core Sound’s cultural heritage. A discussion panel, which will include residents, fishermen and an anthropologist from the area, will follow the 7 p.m. screening. This event is free and open to the public, but register early to ensure seating. By Alyssa Putt, CHASS Communication Intern