Doraville was a modest agricultural town off a major rail line that hit the big time in 1947 when General Motors opened an assembly plant there that defined its existence for decades.
A trio of Sequoyah High School graduates from the 1980s decided to give the city they grew up in a love letter of sorts called “Made in Doraville,” a bootstrapped 40-minute documentary chronicling the town’s history.
A free screening of the film is scheduled for Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Tara Theatre, which will also include a Q&A and a sing-along of a song created specifically for the film called “Dear Doraville” and the Atlanta Rhythm Section’s 1972 hit tune “Doraville.”
Caroline Camick, Lisa Edmondson and Karen Ketchum raised $54,000 to make the documentary a reality, providing a history lesson that includes growing up in a protective suburban alcove that diversified after the 1996 Olympics. There is a segment about a massive refinery fire in 1972 that killed several people. It also chronicles the city grappling with the loss of the GM plant in 2008 and the rise of the Assembly movie and TV studios in 2023.
They even talk to Rodney Justo, a founding member of the Atlanta Rhythm Section, a popular rock band that formed in the early 1970s at a now-defunct studio in Doraville. The producers paid $6,000 for the rights to use the “Doraville” song in the documentary.
Camick, a decorative artist and painter who previously taught physical education at Sequoyah High School, admits to being “super nostalgic” and wanted to honor the city. Despite having no experience making films, she said she’s “a storyteller by nature and I have a huge connecting gift that really came in handy.”
In fact, she said the obsession to make the documentary hit her hard.
“It would ache in me,” Camick said. “I’d drive through the town or by Assembly and become emotional. Why is no one telling this story? Then I found Lisa and Karen. We all ended up with the same obsession.”
“I felt compelled, I can’t explain it,” said Edmondson, an author and corporate trainer who lives in Snellville. She wrote an outline for the documentary and lyrics to an original song featured in the film called “Dear Doraville.”
Credit: COURTESY
Credit: COURTESY
For the film, the trio interviewed a variety of longtime residents from multiple generations including former GM workers. They convinced Chris Holcomb, chief meteorologist at local NBC affiliate 11Alive, to narrate the film since he grew up in Doraville and went to school with the producers.
None of the trio still resides in Doraville, which is relatively small in square miles (3.6) and population at about 10,000 people. But as Camick, who lives in neighboring Tucker, noted, “none of us really leave in spirit. I think that’s why we needed to do this. We just have all been drawn back to that town.”
Camick said this was the right time to tell this story because she senses the area is on the verge of major change in terms of redevelopment including a planned town square.
“Except for a few new apartment complexes, everything looks exactly like it did in the 1970s except the names of the businesses,” said Ketchum, who largely handled the business aspects of putting the documentary together. “With Assembly here, who knows what Doraville will look like in 10, 20 years?”
“Our old high school is about to be torn down,” Camick noted wistfully. (The building is now a middle school.)
They plan to submit the movie to regional and national film festivals and will screen it at community events in Georgia.
Camick said there were many stories that were left on the cutting-room floor, and she hopes the 40-minute documentary can be expanded down the road if someone is willing to fund it. But she’s grateful the film made it to the finish line.
“It is absolutely moving to me on a regular basis how many people helped me make this dream come true,” Camick said.
If you watch
“Made in Doraville” screening
12:30 p.m. Saturday. Free, Tara Theatre, 2345 Cheshire Bridge Road NE, Atlanta. eventbrite.com
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