Coal Face (1935)

1935-06-0311m

1935 documentary about the hard working life of Welsh coal miners.

Related Movies

1283377-thumbnail

Strike! The Village That Fought Back (2024)

The inside story of Polmaise Colliery and the miners who were the first to walk out and the last to go back to work during the miners' strike.

766707-thumbnail

Arica (2020)

A Swedish mining giant, Boliden, is accused of having dumped 20000 tonnes of toxic waste in a poor neighborhood in a Chilean desert town.

258520-thumbnail

Living With Lions (1999)

Exclusive two-disc film documenting the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa in the summer of 1997. The unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the team shows the preparations, the training, the fun, the team selection, the 'earthy' language, the bonding, the awesome task of playing and some shocking footage of injuries. Despite securing the series with wins in the first two tests, the Lions remained motivated by the prospect of a 3-0 whitewash, a feat never achieved against the Springboks throughout the century.

1112804-thumbnail

Have You Seen This Before? (2023)

A story with no (real) narrative that just takes you through a holiday in Wales to show you how great it can be, whilst also trying to explore the creativity that cinematography and colour grading can present to you.

244810-thumbnail

The Silent Village (1943)

The true story of the massacre of a small Czech village by the Nazis is retold as if it happened in Wales.

1270689-thumbnail

Mining Review 2nd Year No. 4 (1948)

The majestic rebirth of Manchester's Bradford Colliery and other stories.

1270576-thumbnail

Dulais Valley (1965)

Master baker, owner of Duffryn Bakery, Onllwyn, turns his hand to film-making and captures community events in glorious colour.

433046-thumbnail

500 Years (2017)

From a historic genocide trial to the overthrow of a president, the sweeping story of mounting resistance played out in Guatemala’s recent history is told through the actions and perspectives of the majority indigenous Mayan population, who now stand poised to reimagine their society.

600127-thumbnail

Breakpoint: A Counter History of Progress (2019)

An account of the last two centuries of the Anthropocene, the Age of Man. How human beings have progressed so much in such a short time through war and the selfish interests of a few, belligerent politicians and captains of industry, damaging the welfare of the majority of mankind, impoverishing the weakest, greedily devouring the limited resources of the Earth.

1120632-thumbnail

Charles R: The Making of a Monarch (2023)

This is the story of how a prince became a king, a revealing portrait of our new monarch across the seven decades he spent as heir to the throne. It’s a journey from cradle to crown told almost solely in his own words, from film and television recordings to private home movies and featuring a wealth of material, some of which has never been seen before. As well as drawing on home movies from the Royal Collection, the film-makers were given exclusive access to sequences featuring the prince, shot for the landmark 1969 film Royal Family, including private unseen moments.

1166137-thumbnail

The Athertons: Mountain Biking's Fastest Family (2021)

The Atherton family name has been a staple in British mountain biking for 2 decades, with huge success in international racing and multiple world championship titles between them, mountain biking's most successful family are have had their ups and downs. With insight from MTB journalists and family friends, we'll be reminiscing on their past achievements, and looking at what the future has to hold. With a sawmill, a bike park and a bike brand recently added to their name, their life in mountain biking is beginning a new chapter. We went to visit them in the Dyfi valley to take a look at how the Atherton drive has turned passion projects into fully fledged businesses.

762370-thumbnail

Tryweryn, The Story of a Valley (1965)

Devastation of a Welsh-speaking community: Capel Celyn village and farms of the Tryweryn Valley disappear beneath the waters of a reservoir so Liverpool’s thirst may be slaked.

1125214-thumbnail

Once We Were Pitmen (2024)

Black dust, shrill metallic noises, dark tunnels, muscular bodies – all that is the past. At the end of 2018, extraction of coal throughout Germany came to an end. That same year, the voices of the emerging climate protest movement Fridays for Future grew louder. Against the backdrop of these media and socio-political events, the film follows five miners on their tragic, humorous and heartwarming search for a new role in life.

605498-thumbnail

Golden Times – Cassandra’s Treasure (2012)

The exploitation of the country’s mineral wealth is projected as the most reasonable solution to deal with the economic crisis that plagues Greece. The Greek state has ceded its mining rights over 31.700 ha of land in northern Halkidiki, a region rich in gold, copper and other metals, to the Canadian multinational company Eldorado Gold. However, many of the region’s inhabitants, who have been resisting the construction of a goldmine for years, claim that this investment will cause irreparable damage to the environment and the benefits will be fewer than the losses. “Cassandra’s Treasure” presents a detailed picture of the modern Greek state before and during the crisis period.

605346-thumbnail

Ancient Sunshine (2019)

A reflection on anarchism and labor, ANCIENT SUNSHINE marks a path through the struggles of climate activism and coal extractions in the American West.

1309697-thumbnail

Leaning on the tree (2025)

An apocalyptic sound of roaring machines incessantly intrudes into the habitats of man and nature. Barren landscapes and deserted villages linger in hypnotic restlessness. A self-destructive system meets resistance.

456600-thumbnail

Westray (2001)

In this feature documentary, filmmaker Paul Cowan offers an innovative, moving account of the Westray coal mine disaster that killed 26 men in Nova Scotia on May 9, 1992. The film focuses on the lives of three widows and three miners lucky enough not to be underground that day when the methane and coal dust ignited. But their lives were torn apart by the events. Meet some of the working men, who felt they had no option but to stay on at Westray. And wives, who heard the rumours, saw their men sometimes bloodied from accidents and stood by them, hoping it would all turn out all right. This is a film about working people everywhere whose lives are often entrusted to companies that violate the most fundamental rules of safety and decency in the name of profit.

794864-thumbnail

River of Gold (2016)

Narrated by Academy Award winners Sissy Spacek and Herbie Hancock, River of Gold is the disturbing account of a clandestine journey into Peru's Amazon rainforest to uncover the savage unraveling of pristine jungle. What will be the fate of this critical region of priceless biodiversity as these extraordinarily beautiful forests are turned into a hellish wasteland?

454013-thumbnail

From the Ashes (2017)

Capturing Americans in communities across the country as they wrestle with the legacy of the coal industry and what its future should be under the Trump Administration. From Appalachia to the West’s Powder River Basin, the film goes beyond the rhetoric of the “war on coal” to present compelling and often heartbreaking stories about what’s at stake for our economy, health, and climate.

33324-thumbnail

Harlan County U.S.A. (1977)

This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Eastovers refusal to sign a contract (when the miners joined with the United Mine Workers of America) led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between gun-toting company thugs/scabs and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with New York Women in Film & Television in 2004.