Documentary
American
1976 · Directed by Barbara Kopple · 104 min
In Kentucky's Harlan County, coal miners at the Brookside mine go on strike to win a union contract from the company that employs them. Barbara Kopple's camera stays with the miners and their families on the picket line, in kitchens and in meetings. The tone is angry, communal and unsentimental.
Why it matters in cinema history
A defining film of 1970s American documentary. It carried the observational methods of direct cinema into openly committed, partisan filmmaking about class and work.
Watch with intention
Watch it as a film that takes sides openly, and notice how much its method of observation lets people argue their own case.
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