125m; U.S.
Director: Michael Apted
Cast: Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones and Levon Helm
Synopsis: Biography of Loretta Lynn, a country and western singer that came from poverty to fame.
Author Archives: Metro Council
Coal Mining and the Black Lung Movement (2008)
U.S.
Synopsis: Three-part documentary of a political movement called the Black Lung Movement, centered in southern West Virginia. The DVD has three separate films on it – “Black Lung: A History (MSHA), News coverage of 1960’s Black Lung Movement, and “Reflections” which is a history of MSHA and federal government agencies over the decades that worked on protecting miners.
Contact: Richard Hanna, District Director U.S. Department of Labor ESA/OWCP/DCMWC Charleston Federal Center – Suite 110 500 Quarrier Street Charleston, West Virginia 25301 Commercial: (304) 347-7100 Toll-Free (800) 347-3749 Hanna.Richard@dol.gov
Coal Ties: Yellow Springs to Meigs County (2008)
23m; U.S.
Director: Carl Reeverts
Synopsis: Independent filmmaker Carl Reeverts documents the struggle in Yellow Springs, Ohio and neighboring Meigs County to stop the construction of more coal-fired power plants.
Contact: Carl Reeverts at carl.reeverts@gmail.com
Coal Wars: The Battle in Rum Creek (1991)
29m; U.S.
Director: Kathleen Foster
Synopsis: In the tradition of Harlan County, USA, this documentary looks at the role women played in the 1989-90 coal strike in the Southern Appalachian coalfields. The location is Dehue – Logan County, WV. The miners and their wives are fighting one of the most intense battles since the 1920s. Clips from other films made about that era, along with photographs, are used to illustrate the conclusion – namely that “its workers again’ bosses…forever!”
Coalmining Women
40m; U.S.
Directed by: Elizabeth Barret
1982; Running Time: 40:00
Color
https://store.appalshop.org/shop/appalshop-films/coalmining-women/
Interviewed at home and on the job, women coal miners tell of the conditions that led them to seek employment in this traditionally male-dominated industry–and the problems they encountered once hired. Watching these women bolt mine roofs, shovel beltlines, haul rock dust, and build ventilation barriers leaves little doubt that they can, indeed, do the work. Proud of their accomplishments, the women also seem to bring a special understanding to the problems all miners face. Coalmining Women traces womens significant contributions to past coalfield struggles and the importance of their newer position as working miners. It is an excellent film for audiences interested in women in nontraditional roles, womens history, labor studies, and women as a force for social change.
Code 46 (2003)
92m; U.K
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Cast: Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton
Synopsis: Dystopian science-fiction movie about a doomed romance between a bureaucrat and a “genetically incompatible” woman. Intriguing premise, but somewhat esoteric in execution.
Collision Course (1988)
47m; U.S.
Director: Alex Gibney
Synopsis: A case study of Eastern Airlines tracing rise and fall of workplace cooperation that temporarily saved Eastern from bankruptcy
Come Back Africa (1960)
95m
Director: Lionel Rogosin
Cast: Zachria Makeba, Miriam Makeba, Vinah Makeba, Molly Parkin
Synopsis: New print of what is now a classic ‘docu-fictie’ provides a unique picture of South Africa in the 1950s, made at that time under great pressure of time with non-professional actors and without permission from the authorities. Zacharia is a worker without a work permit and therefore falls victim to exploitation, sudden dismissal and arrest.
Contact: International Film Festival Rotterdam Production Department: production@filmfestivalrotterdam.com
Come See the Paradise (1992)
138m; U.S.
Director: Alan Parker
Synopsis: Internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
The Comedy of Power (2006)
110m; France
Director: Claude Chabrol
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, François Berléand and Patrick Bruel
Synopsis: Inspired by the Elf Aquitaine scandal of the 1990s, which exposed extensive corruption in France’s giant gas company
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