...Peter Argentine, a Mt. Lebanon-based filmmaker who is making a documentary about the mine explosion, praised Mr. D'Andrea's efforts to ensure the Monongah tombstones were righted and restored.

He also lauded Mr. D'Andrea's support of the memorial bell as well as six years of research for a book, "Monongah: 100 Years of Oblivion," which was published in Italian. "Joe has been the force behind all this," Mr. Argentine said...

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A century ago this month, more than 300 West Virginia coal miners lost their lives in the worst mining disaster in U.S. history. Filmmaker Peter Argentine, Mayfair Drie, is working on a documentary about the disaster, which took place in the village of Monongah, about 20 miles south of Morgantown.

...On Dec. 6, West Virginia Public Broadcasting will televise "The Darkest Month: December 1907," at 10 p.m. and "The Monongah Heroine" at 10:30 p.m.

"The Darkest Month" examines the impact of mining and its role in developing the unique relationship that still exists between Italy and West Virginia. Peter Argentine of Argentine Productions, Pittsburgh, Pa., produced the documentary.

..."The Darkest Month," an exhibition about the grim side of America's Industrial Revolution, opens Saturday at the Senator John Heinz History Center. The show, which runs through June 8, features 65 photographs, miners' artifacts, illustrations, mementos from a Hungarian miner's home life and a 10-minute video about Monongah by Argentine Productions of Mt. Lebanon...

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Peter Argentine has made documentaries for 30 years but the story of an explosion that killed 361 men at a mine in Monongah, W.Va., struck a deep chord in his family history.

Two of the Mt. Lebanon filmmaker's great uncles were carpenters who died in industrial accidents...

An artist uses a palate of color, a writer uses words, but a filmmaker uses scenes, long and short, to portray a story.

When the story is a documentary those scenes do more than tell a story, they seek to tell the truth in a way that will both interest and inform the viewer. Not an easy task to do. Ask local documentary filmmaker, Peter Argentine.

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