Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)
director: Barbara Kopple
This Oscar-winning documentary follows the 1970s strike of the Duke Power Company miners in Harlan County, Kentucky. For thirteen months, Barbara Kopple filmed the struggle of the miners and their families against a company that refused to recognise their union. The footage reveals a stark reality: violence, intimidation, poverty, and the unyielding determination of workers fighting for their rights.
October Sky (1999)
director: Joe Johnston
Coalwood, West Virginia, 1957. Homer Hickam grows up in a mining town where he is expected to follow his father into the mines. But after witnessing the launch of Sputnik, he decides to build rockets. October Sky is an inspiring story about forging one’s own path while also portraying the harsh labour of the miners. Hope and melancholy go hand in hand in this moving portrait of a fading industry.
Matewan (1987)
director: John Sayles
West Virginia, 1920. Miners attempt to form a union, but company bosses deploy strikebreakers to crush the movement. Tensions escalate into a violent confrontation in the town of Matewan. John Sayles crafts a restrained yet powerful film about class struggle and solidarity. Haskell Wexler’s cinematography captures both the beauty and the brutality of mining life. Matewan recalls the violent history of labour rights in America and honours those who gave their lives for safer working conditions.
Nomadland (2020)
director: Chloé Zhao
After the gypsum plant shuts down in Empire, Nevada, Fern loses everything: her job, her home, her community. She becomes a modern nomad, travelling across America in her van. Chloé Zhao’s film is not about miners, but about the aftermath of deindustrialisation—what becomes of people when factories close and communities unravel? Frances McDormand delivers a subtle yet powerful performance, awarded three Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
director: David Hand
Walt Disney’s first animated feature, Snow White, changed cinema forever. Yet behind its magical images lies a story of labour: the seven dwarfs work day after day in a diamond mine. With their pickaxes and carts, they sing ‘Heigh-Ho’, a song that embraces—and romanticises—the repetitive routine of mining. Disney depicts the mine as a fairytale cavern of glittering gems, far removed from the darkness of real mineshafts. Still, we recognise the rhythm of industrial labour: the daily march to the mine, the toil underground, the exhaustion at day’s end.
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
director: John Ford
A shift across the ocean: How Green Was My Valley is set in Wales and tells a universal story of mining communities. Through the eyes of young Huw Morgan, we witness a valley slowly consumed by the coal industry. John Ford shows the dignity of labour, but also the danger: accidents, poverty, and the erosion of a once-thriving community. The film won five Oscars, including Best Picture, and remains a classic meditation on the human cost of industrialisation.
