Complex sentence: The town was the filming location for John Sayles' 1987 movie Matewan since it still possesses many of the characteristics of a 1920s Appalachian coal mining town.
Split into simpler sentences: The town was the filming location for John Sayles' 1987 movie Matewan. The film "Matewan" was shot in the town, since it still had many of the characteristics of a 1920s coal mining town.