Erinnerung an Rheinhausen(1989)

Harlan County U.S.A.(en)

This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Eastover's 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.

Review 34th Year No. 7(en)

A West Yorkshire story of rewilding wetlands in a landscape once dominated by deep coal mining.

Review 35th Year No. 4(en)

"It's still men who win coal": a look at the past, present and future of the coal industry.

Mining Review 15th Year No. 5(en)

A visit to Peterlee, Co. Durham.

Talvivaaran miehet(fi)

Documentary about a Finnish mining company struggling with production and environmental management problems.

The Devil's Miner(en)

'The Devil's Miner' tells the story of 14-year-old Basilio who worships the devil for protection while working in a Bolivian silver mine to support his family.

Gold Blooded(en)

Dakota Fred Hurt, Dustin Hurt and the Richardson brothers battle nature, time, and death itself to strike gold under a huge waterfall. This film documents what Fred and Dustin were up to since they left Discovery's GOLD RUSH, and it's the prequel to Discovery's new show starring this team called GOLD RUSH: WHITE WATER.

The Concert for Bangladesh(en)

A film about the first benefit rock concert when major musicians performed to raise relief funds for the poor of Bangladesh. The Concert for Bangladesh was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows were held at 2:30 and 8:00 pm on Sunday, 1 August 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to raise international awareness of, and fund relief for refugees from East Pakistan, following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide.

Poison in the Rockies(en)

Acid rain, economic development, and a century of mining pollute Rocky Mountain waters.

Waste Land(de)

By 2045, twenty localities in Germany will be resettled because of brown coal open pit mining. The film Waste Land follows the inhabitants of three villages in the Rhenish coal-mining district during their last years in their old home and documents how an entire region prepares for its collective relocation.

Scenes from the Blackjewel Miners Blockade(en)

In July of 2019 the Blackjewel coal company announced it was declaring bankruptcy. Miners were told to stop working mid shift, and their last paychecks bounced. The miners retaliated by blocking a train full of coal, camping out on the coal tracks for weeks. Queer regional organizers made their way to the encampment to support the miners. The encampment became a place for community gathering and mutual aid distribution. Sarah Moyer, a film maker living in Kentucky, also made their way to the encampment and filmed this short documentary on the blockade. (Summary from Queer Appalachia)

Once We Were Pitmen(de)

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.

Mirage of El Dorado(fr)

Mirage of El Dorado leads us into the mountains of northern Chile, where the devastating operations of Canadian mining companies threaten a fragile ecosystem in one of the driest parts of the globe. This « political cowboy flick» follows the pitched battle between a farming community in the Huasco valley and Canada’s mining giant Barrick Gold with its sidekick Noranda (now part of the Suisse corporation Xstrata). It’s a battle fought high in the Andes cordillera where farmers and local representatives fear the ravages of open pit mining operations in a place where a fragile system of glaciers feeds the rivers that flow into the farmlands built out of the advancing Atacama desert.

Richesse des autres(fr)

Bischofferode. Das Treuhand Trauma(de)

In 1990, when Bischofferode entered the market economy, potash production in East Germany was in third place in the world's export ranking and in West Germany in fourth place. Bischofferöder Kalisalz is of a special quality and the plant therefore had loyal customers in Western Europe, especially in Scandinavia, even before the fall of the Wall. In the West, there is a major competitor - BASF subsidiary Kali und Salz AG from Kassel. The film reconstructs the mega-deal in one of the world's most important raw materials markets. The so-called potash merger was the biggest economic deal of German reunification, which has cost the taxpayer almost two billion euros to date. The Free State of Thuringia - the federal state with the best potash deposits in Germany - is still the big loser of the mega-deal today. Thuringia may be rich, but it loses almost all its potash mines, along with Bischofferode, and now has to spend millions of euros each year to rehabilitate and secure its mines.

On Denniston(en)

Eighth Wonder of the Industrial World

Lightning Ridge: The Land of Black Opals(en)

An insight into the lives of the miners who search for Australia’s famous black opals.

Lithium in Europe: the mining industry of the future?(fr)

Heavily dependent on imports, Europe is seeking to develop its production of lithium, an element that is essential to the energy transition. Focus on the environmental challenges that accompany this quest for independence.

The Creek Runs Red(en)

The town of Picher, Oklahoma, was once home to the world's richest lead and zinc mining field. After decades of mining, towering piles of mine waste covered 25,000 acres, devastating Quapaw tribal lands and local economies. Acid mine water burned nearby Tar Creek and stained it red. Despite these environmental hazards, many people in Picher desperately wished to stay and revitalize their town.

My Song Goes Forth(en)

Featuring Paul Robeson, this is the first documentary film to take a serious look at social conditions and race relations in South Africa.