Bloomsburg University professor and filmmaker David Heineman will host a screening of his lauded new documentary about Central Pennsylvania at the Rialto Theatre in Canton at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Titled “NEPADOC” and recently tapped for two U.S. film festivals, the 86-minute feature is not currently available for streaming; this weekend’s Canton show — which includes an intro and Q-and-A by Heineman — is the nearest of several screenings over the next couple of months.

In a recent interview with the Sun-Gazette, Heineman described the film as a “documentary about the intersections of environment, industry and identity in Northeastern Pennsylvania over the past 300 years.”

Its unusual title may be a reference to similar films such as “Koyaanisqatsi” (1982) and “Baraka” (1992) because, like those acclaimed documentaries, it is “nonverbal.” In other words, the film, no voiceover or narration, consisting entirely of music and images — some archival, some filmed live by Heineman in and around Northeastern Pennsylvania.

“The juxtaposition of the region’s

beautiful landscapes against some of its economically and environmentally decimated communities creates striking visual parallels between NEPA’s own unique story and those of many other communities across the globe,” says Heineman.

With some funding from Bloomsburg University, filming began in the spring of 2022 as director Heineman worked with Noam Maymon on editing and cinematography; music was later added by composer David Crago, with audio mastering handled by Hazleton native Jeremy DePrisco.

“I took the lead role in all aspects of the production but did get a big assist from a small crew,” says Heineman. The entire process, including post-production, took about a year.

The director is a professor of Communications Studies, teaching courses in media, criticism and public advocacy. “I have family roots in Northeastern Pennsylvania that trace back several generations,” he adds. “My great-great-grandfather immigrated from Wales to mine coal in Taylor, PA, in the 19th century.”

Heineman’s previous work includes a 35-minute documentary on COVID-19, “The Pandemic Nature Project” (2021), which was shown at several juried festivals and academic conferences.

“NEPADOC” was recently named an official selection of the Black Bear Film Festival slated for October in Milford, PA; and, adds Heineman, it is “awaiting word of final decisions from several other juried festivals. “It will also be screened in National Harbor, MD, as a ‘Top Film’ at this year’s National Communication Association conference in November,” says the director.

Details on other near-future showings — which include Hazleton, Scranton and Slippery Rock — can be found at the film’s website, www.nepadoc.com. It also screened in Wilkes-Barre in April and at Williamsport’s Taber Museum in July.

“Audiences have had overwhelmingly positive responses,” says Heineman, “often for very different reasons. The film is designed to at various points attract, repel, delight, disgust, entrance and inspire the viewer, and I have had responses ranging from appreciation of the film’s beauty and how it showcases wildlife and nature, to appreciation for the palpable unease caused during scenes referencing regional hardships.”

Shooting in 18 counties — including Clinton, Lycoming, Montour, Sullivan and Columbia — “the filmmakers focused the camera’s attention on the many beautiful natural landscapes found throughout the region, on ruins of the bygone lumber and coal industries that defined the region’s history, on the hustle and bustle of contemporary life and on the many faces of those who continue to define NEPA’s character and community.”

Working with numerous libraries and historical societies — among them, the Taber Museum and the Herdic House — Heineman dug up archival footage on coal mining, Hurricane Agnes, the Austin Flood, Centralia, immigration, rafting, logging, Little League, railroads and such political figures as Joe Biden, Bob Casey and Barack Obama.

“It is my hope,” Heineman concludes, “that the film will help those who live here think about their surroundings in a new way. I hope audiences outside the region discover something relatable about the perseverance of the people of Northeast PA and their relationship with their own history and environment.”

The Rialto is located at 14 E. Main St., Canton. Tickets are $15.