The time is 1907. Lily Penleric, a woman ahead of her time, has just been passed over yet again for a university promotion, despite her academic achievements. Frustrated and determined to get the recognition she deserves, she heads to Appalachia, dragging an impossibly bulky, primitive recording device far into the hill country, with a plan to record music never heard before. There she joins her sister Elna (portrayed by Tony Award-winner JANE ADAMS), who runs a local schoolhouse - and quickly butts her head against the fiercely insular and protective mountain ways.

Here, the story takes a left turn into the wild-hearted culture of the Appalachian mountains, as Lily worms and wheedles her way into the world where American roots music was born, a place of hardscrabble farmers, daring, illegal bootleggers and palpable magic. Some of contemporary music's most exciting artists including IRIS DEMENT, TAJ MAHAL and HAZEL DICKENS also star, along with music by such legends as EMMYLOU HARRIS bringing to life the raw and transcendentally lyric ballads and tunes of Appalachia.

Under the shotgun-toting tutelage of local expert Viney Butler (played by Grammy and Emmy Award-winner and Tony Award-nominee PAT CARROLL) and the scarlet-throated orphan Deladis Slocumb (EMMY ROSSUM), Lily begins to learn about the local music and starts to record their haunting songs. But Lily cannot help but also become privy to the mountain people's struggles - from marital squabbles and run-away husbands to the community's fight to save their land from greedy coal companies. Not everyone in the hill-country is cooperative, including the rough local musician Tom Bledsoe (the acclaimed AIDAN QUINN), who accuses Lily - now known far and wide as "The Songcatcher" - of exploiting the locals. But as Tom comes to see Lily's strength and passion for the music, and Lily begins to feel Tom's deep loyalty for his people, mutual respect and romance blossom.

The fires are not confined to Lily's romantic life, though, and when disaster strikes hard at the very core of her mountain community and her own ambitions, Lily is faced with a choice: to remain an outsider forever or to join the musical, spirited community of the mountain people she has grown to admire.

Special Jury Prize-winner for Outstanding Ensemble Performance at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, "SONGCATCHER" features authentic vocal performances by the entire cast, as well as the earthy artwork of Elizabeth Ellison.

Trimark Pictures and Rigas Entertainment, in association with The Independent Film Channel Productions, present an Ergo Arts production of a film by Maggie Greenwald. "SONGCATCHER" stars Janet McTeer, Aidan Quinn, Pat Carroll and Jane Adams. Casting by Ellen Parks, Vivian Hasbrouk and Tracy Kilpatrick. Co-Producers are Jennifer M. Roth and Wendy Sax, and Kasia Walicka Maimone served as Costume Designer. Edited by Keith Reamer, Production Design by Ginger Tougas; Enrique Chediak served as Director of Photography. Original Score and Musical Direction by David Mansfield. The Executive Producers are Jonathan Sehring and Caroline Kaplan. Produced by Ellen Rigas Venetis and Richard Miller, "SONGCATCHER" was Written and Directed by Maggie Greenwald.