In modern times, we glorify the pioneer and use the term to describe a nearly unreachable position; someone solving the world’s most difficult problem.

But with a little digging, one will discover the word "pioneer" did not always have such a lofty meaning. Originating in Middle French, "pionnie" translates an infantryman or a pawn, and the noun refers to soldiers who would clear a path for the army or to miners pulling resources from underground.

In 1865, Walt Whitman wrote about the purpose and life of the 19th Century American pioneer in his poem, Pioneers! O Pioneers! With a poetic call to arms, the American pioneer was wooed to settle the West. Land was something to be tamed, rivers to be seized, and indigenous people to be trampled. While we humans are possessed by the romance of carving a new path, satisfying our inner wanderlust, and celebrating the gifts we can offer the world, we must stop and reflect on what it truly means to be human.

O Pioneer follows three West Virginians—a blacksmith, a seamstress, and a hospital chaplain—as they creatively navigate hardship. Weaving narration with archival pioneer footage, candid moments from each subject, poetic vignettes, and dream-like animation. O Pioneer asks viewers to courageously champion the pioneer within.