The first minute or so of
Down the House, Tricia Murajda’s wonderful new documentary debuting Fri., May 14 at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival looks like the dream for any out-of-town politician. Featuring old footage from workers at the Leviathan Mill in Braddock, Pa., it is a walking embodiment of every image people from outside the region have of Western Pennsylvania: gritty, hard-working steel towns that are a foundation for blue-collar jobs. The reality is more complicated. “Outside of this region, I noticed that there’s very much a misunderstanding, and at times even a contempt, for this region and for the people of this region,” Murajda said in an interview with