Mine Your Own Business

Centralia: Pennsylvania's Lost Town(en)

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

Dobývání uhlí(cs)

These were the reasons(en)

This film takes us into the harsh realm of BC's early coal mines, canneries, and lumber camps; where primitve conditions and speed-ups often cost lives. Then, the film moves through the unemployed' struggles of the '30s, post WWII equity campaigns, and into more recent public sector strikes over union rights.

Broken Rainbow(en)

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

La Buena Vida - The Good Life(de)

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.

That's the Price(en)

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.

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.

The Kingdom of Fun(en)

The largest leisure and shopping complex in Europe, the Metro Centre in Tynemouth, and its creator John Hall.

Coal Face(en)

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

Iron and Steel Supply of the World(en)

Time-travel to a 1940s classroom with this exemplary educational film.

Ancient Sunshine(en)

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

Breakpoint: A Counter History of Progress(fr)

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.

Shenandoah(en)

An epic feature documentary about a coal mining town with a fiery immigrant heritage, once pivotal in fueling America’s industrial revolution and today in decline and struggling to survive and retain its identity, soul and values – all of which were dramatically challenged when four of the town’s white, star football players were charged in the beating death of an undocumented Mexican immigrant named Luis Ramirez. Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer David Turnley’s most personal work, SHENANDOAH creates a deeply felt portrait of a working class community, and the American Dream on trial.

The Town That Was(en)

An intimate portrait of John Lokitis, the youngest remaining resident of Centralia, Pennsylvania, and his quixotic fight to keep alive a hometown that has literally disintegrated under his feet. His unbowed determination and steadfast refusal to acknowledge defeat reveal a man, a town, a region, and a way of life abandoned and forgotten.

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

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.

Which Side Are You On?(en)

The documentary features the British miners and their family experiences told through songs, poems, pictures and words.

Bimblebox(en)

The Bimblebox Nature Refuge lies in the path of what will be the earths largest coal mines. One woman, Paola Cassoni, decides to resist the "China First" project that will destroy her Nature Refuge and supply energy to Asia for the next thirty years. Paola's decision brings the viewer on a tour of Australia's "Quarry Vision". At this critical time, when so much coal and coal seam gas expansion is planned in Australia, this film aims to win the hearts and minds of the people, exposing the destructiveness of this industry to our climate, communities and environment. It tells the stories of the people fighting for their homes and culture. Australia is the worlds largest exporter of coal supplying one third of the worlds supply. It is impossible to address climate change without looking at Australia's role in the planets climate future. http://www.screenzone.tv/products/bimblebox

Tinker(en)

Semi-documentary, focusing on the training young boys receive before they are sent down the mines on their first job.

Blood on the Coal(en)

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.

Justice in the Coalfields(en)

This film demonstrates how labor law has crippled the collective bargaining power of unions and weighed the scales of justice against working people. The documentary follows the 1988 United Mine Workers strike against the Pittston Coal Company that followed the expiration of their contract and Pittston's termination of the medical benefits of 1,500 pensioners, widows, and disabled miners.