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Blood on the Coal

Aug 12, 2015

1h 43m

★ 7.5

The Story of the Queensland Miners.

Overview

A story of struggle and tragedy, the film features harrowing underground disasters, heroic rescues and traces a history of strikes, industrial turmoil and the current push by global mining giants to destroy regional communities and replace local mineworkers with a subservient itinerant workforce.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Matilda Films

Blood on the Coal Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Narrator

Jack Thompson

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.

0.0

Pike River

Nov 21, 2016

On the 19th of November 2010, the Pike River mine exploded with 31 men trapped inside. In the immediate confusion that followed no one knew what had happened. Within hours two men would manage a heroic escape but 29 remained unaccounted for. Over five days the men’s families and loved ones waited, hoping they would come out alive. Then two further explosions sealed the men’s fate. However, the fuse that would eventually snuff out so many lives was lit decades before. Set in the drama of the five days between the three explosions, Pike River reveals the tragic back story of the mine where pressure for profits would eventually contribute to the deaths of 29 men. Featuring interviews with the Pike River families and scripted drama to depict key events.

0.0

Leaning on the tree

Jan 29, 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.

0.0

That's the Price

Jan 1, 1970

What happens to two dying coal towns in British Columbia when an American corporation provides a contract for millions of tons of coking coal? The film follows the consequences for the towns of Natal and Michel, suggesting that industrial growth has its price, especially with regard to the environment.

0.0

Federation

Jan 1, 1999

An epic tale about the making of Australia. This tells the stories of the founding fathers and of the people in six separate colonies in the decades leading to Federation. It's a tale of winners and losers, of great debates which unified the country, of the struggle not just to make an Australian nation, but to create Australian democracy.

0.0

Harry Caudill: A Man of Courage

Jan 1, 2015

One of the most important Kentuckians of the 20th century, Harry Caudill brought the story of Appalachia to national attention when his book “Night Comes to the Cumberlands” was released in 1963. The nonfiction account of Eastern Kentucky’s coal region, part history and part polemic, eloquently recounted the exploitation of Appalachia’s land and its people by business and government interests, and made Caudill a national spokesperson for his homeland. Harry Caudill spent his life advocating for Eastern Kentucky, with the aim of helping the powerless as well as securing the region’s unmatched natural resources for future generations. His work led to lasting government reforms for Appalachia, and his legacy remains a touchstone for activists today.

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0.0

Nazi Supergrass

Jul 21, 1993

This documentary explores the life and times of Russell Dean Willey, a neo-Nazi supergrass, in order to explain the presence of Jack Van Tongeren's Australian Nationalists Movement in Australia, and its spread, especially in difficult economic times.

0.0

Der lange Abschied von der Kohle

Sep 26, 2017

No overview available.

6.0

"They Didn't Starve Us Out": Industrial Cape Breton in the 1920s

Oct 1, 1991

For 200 years, coal mining had been a way of life in Cape Breton. By 1920 things were looking up: miners were unionized and paid decent wages. Then the British Empire Steel Corporation arrived and bought every single steel and coal company in Nova Scotia. BESCO cut wages by a third, setting off a bitter labour dispute. The miners settled in for a long strike. Finally, in 1925, the military ended the unrest with brute force. But the miners, in one sense, had won. They broke up the monopoly and provided an example to workers across the country.

5.7

Broken Rainbow

May 5, 1985

Documentary chronicling the government relocation of 10,000 Navajo Indians in Arizona.

0.0

WINHANGANHA

Nov 10, 2023

WINHANGANHA (Wiradjuri language: Remember, know, think) - is a lyrical journey of archival footage and sound, poetry and original composition. It is an examination of how archives and the legacies of collection affect First Nations people and wider Australia, told through the lens of acclaimed Wiradjuri artist, Jazz Money.

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0.0

The Miners' Strike

Apr 1, 2015

Teaming up with director Karl Francis, Dafydd Hywel speaks to some of the coal miners and their wives who played a huge part in the Miners' Strike of 1984-5, and their descendants, who have inherited a Wales without coal mines.

10.0

Centralia: Pennsylvania's Lost Town

May 5, 2017

A small town is overcome by a massive underground coal fire in 1962. As a result hundreds of residents had to be relocated.

0.0

Too Many Captain Cooks

Jan 1, 1989

For both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, Captain James Cook is a figure of great historical significance.

0.0

Thatcher vs The Miners: The Battle for Britain

May 31, 2021

On the 5th of March 1985, a crowd gathered in a South Yorkshire pit village to watch a sight none of them had seen in a year. The villagers, many of them in tears, cheered and clapped as the men of Grimethorpe Colliery marched back to work accompanied by the village’s world-famous brass band. The miners and their families had endured months of hardship. It had all been for nothing. The miners had lost the strike called on March 6th 1984. They would lose a lot more in the years to come. But was it a good thing for the country that the miners lost their last battle?

10.0

Australia Says Yes

Nov 16, 2018

Packed with drama, high emotions and cliff-hanger moments, Australia Says Yes is the intimate and personal history of struggle and perseverance that propelled Australia to say Yes to marriage equality. The film shows how a group of determined individuals fought tirelessly against unjust laws that treated LGBTIQ people as second-class citizens, creating a movement that saw them go from criminals to legally equal over the course of five decades.

0.0

The Ripple Effect

Jun 5, 2021

The Ripple Effect is a powerful documentary primarily centred around St Kilda legend and proud Noongar Nicky Winmar's generation-defining stand against racism at Victoria Park in 1993.

7.2

La Buena Vida - The Good Life

Jan 21, 2015

The village of Tamaquito lies deep in the forests of Colombia. Here, nature provides the people with everything they need. But the Wayúu community's way of life is being destroyed by the vast and rapidly growing El Cerrejón coal mine. Determined to save his community from forced resettlement, the leader Jairo Fuentes negotiates with the mine's operators, which soon becomes a fight to survive.

0.0

The Miners' Strike and Me

Mar 12, 2014

Documentary marking the 30th anniversary of the 1984 miners' strike, one of the bitterest industrial disputes in British history, with stories from both sides of the conflict.

0.0

In Memory of the Land and People

Jan 1, 1977

“…It is a film that tells in hurried film sequences and a resonant musical score juxtaposing the sublime, funereal despair of Bartok agains tthe gut-bare tones of folk music. Gates has through his filming technique and meticulously selected mining sites, captured all the outrage and sorrow and indignity to the land and its people that strip mining represents. The film is one that all Americans should see, for it shows extremely well the price we have to pay for strip mined coal.” - Dale A. Burk, The Montana “Missoulian”

Blood on the Coal

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

Blood on the Coal Trailers