The Toilers

Black Diamonds(en)

A reporter on a visit to his hometown hears of dangerous conditions at the local coal mine, and proceeds to investigate.

October Sky(en)

Based on the true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes, and eventually became a NASA scientist.

Mine 9(en)

Two miles into the earth, nine Appalachian miners struggle to survive after a methane explosion leaves them with one hour of oxygen.

How Green Was My Valley(en)

A man in his fifties reminisces about his childhood growing up in a Welsh mining village at the turn of the 20th century.

Ode to My Father(ko)

Duk-soo lost his father and younger sister while taking refuge during the Korean War. He leaves for Germany to work as a miner and enters the Vietnam War. He wishes to find his sister.

Sons and Lovers(en)

The son of a working-class British mining family has dreams of pursuing an art career, but when he strikes up an affair with an older, married woman from the town it enrages his kind but possessive mother.

The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd(en)

D.H, Lawrence's early play about a married woman who wishes her husband dead after falling in love with another man comes to the screen in this adaptation starring Zoe Wannamaker and Colin Firth. When her wish becomes a horrifying reality, her life begins to change in ways she could have never anticipated.

Laura(pl)

“Laura” is based on a true story about a dramatic search and rescue mission at Halemba coal mine that gripped Poland in February of 2006. A miner was trapped underground, and by the fourth day when everyone was beginning to lose hope of his safe return, the rescue team heard a faint knocking on the pipeline. After a nearly a week long search, the miner was rescued. Those who followed the story closely called it a miracle. But the miner claimed that what saved him was stronger than a miracle – his love for his daughter Laura, and his wife Marlena.

Tornado(en)

The owner of an Illinois coal mine struggles to keep his business in operation, all the while unaware that among his employees is a saboteur planning destruction and chaos.

Never Speak Ill of the Dead(sh)

Tragicomic story about Communist activist who wants to bring the benefits of Communism to the inhabitants of a Serbian village after WW2.

Out of Darkness: The Mine Workers' Story(en)

OUT OF DARKNESS: THE MINE WORKERS' STORY is a documentary by Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple (HARLAN COUNTY, USA). Historical film footage and photographs are integrated with first-hand accounts of UMWA history and of the Pittston strike of 1989-90.

Zoolander(en)

Clear the runway for Derek Zoolander, VH1's three-time male model of the year. His face falls when hippie-chic Hansel scooters in to steal this year's award. The evil fashion guru Mugatu seizes the opportunity to turn Derek into a killing machine. It's a well-designed conspiracy and only with the help of Hansel and a few well-chosen accessories like Matilda can Derek make the world safe for male models everywhere.

Beneath(en)

A crew of coal miners becomes trapped 600 feet below ground after a disastrous collapse. As the air grows more toxic and time runs out, they slowly descend into madness and begin to turn on one another. Inspired by true events.

Svalbard(en)

Svalbard is a norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean where the world's northernmost city is situated. It is a place where the underground, terrestrial and spatial universes blend into each other starting from a coal mine up to Venus.

Jade Miners(zh)

A fascinating documentary, shot in the mountainous north of Burma. No filmmaker is welcome there, because, against the background of a civil war, the jade miners enter the deserted mines illegally. With the aid of filming locals, however, Midi Z was able to compile this portrait. Getting rich quick turns out to be hard and risky work Jade has always been a valuable commodity in Asia. In the mountains in the north of Burma there are valuable deposits of jade. The area forms part of Kachin State, inhabited by many ethnic groups which found themselves embroiled in the Civil War in 2010 with the Burmese government. Jade mining was halted because of the conflict. Thousands of workers, however, went to the war zone in order to dig for illegal jade. It turned the region into a no-go area and the filmmaker Midi Z, who had so far made feature films in Burma, saw no opportunity to go and film there. It was far too dangerous. © iffr.com

Země se otvírá(cs)

Facts and Figures or Whatever Happened to Dick(en)

Unambiguous message, unpretentiously inventive animation and a blackly comic tone.

Tiot Bout d’Carbon(fr)

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.

Big Bad John(en)

Jimmy Dean's popular 1950 song is translated into a feature length movie about a young couple who elopes to escape the girl's evil stepfather.