In this feature documentary, filmmaker Paul Cowan offers an innovative, moving account of the Westray coal mine disaster that killed 26 men in Nova Scotia on May 9, 1992. The film focuses on the lives of three widows and three miners lucky enough not to be underground that day when the methane and coal dust ignited. But their lives were torn apart by the events. Meet some of the working men, who felt they had no option but to stay on at Westray. And wives, who heard the rumours, saw their men sometimes bloodied from accidents and stood by them, hoping it would all turn out all right. This is a film about working people everywhere whose lives are often entrusted to companies that violate the most fundamental rules of safety and decency in the name of profit.
The documentary dives intimately behind the scenes of the Finnish National Opera and sucks the viewer in like the best of thrillers. The three hours fly by, even for those who aren’t necessarily interested in opera as an art form.
From the creators of 31 Minutos, here comes the story of a rock that didn't want to grow up...
Documentary film on the plight of Western Australia's forests and their real value in drawing down and storing carbon.
Les Mégafeux, la nouvelle guerre du feu
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.
Three farming families in Hanyuan, China, strive to give their children a good life in the midst of an ecological crisis, as widespread use of pesticides leads to a dramatic decline in bees and other pollinating insects in the valley.
A father of four children gets brutally stabbed several times, with the children present in the family home. During the brutal action, his wife – Anneli Auer – is on the phone to the emergency center. Emergency Call – A Murder Mystery is a documentary film tracking down the story that unfolds after the fatal night. We hear from all emerging sides as the prosecution builds its case against the mother of four. A behind the scenes look into one of the most bizarre unsolved court cases in recent Finnish history.
Invisible Revolutions
'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.
“…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”
Steel giant Thyssen Krupp in Germany and cargo ship operator Maersk in Denmark are investing huge sums of money with public support to convert their huge and dirty energy consumption to ‘green’. Hydrogen plays a central role in this. At the same time, countries in Africa such as Morocco and Namibia are gearing up to become giga-suppliers of the new energy source. But does it all make sense? Why not just produce green steel in Africa? And what's the story behind the blue hydrogen that is supposed to come from Norway via pipeline? The film follows pioneers on breathtaking projects and shows that the energy transition is more complicated than expected and holds many surprises in store.
Verlan ilmataistelu
Documentary about the work of members of the mining rescue station in Handlová, Slovakia.
Warwick company newsreel material of the Universal Colliery at Senghenydd on fire after an explosion on 14th October 1913, and footage of a funeral procession for some of the 439 mine workers who were killed, is followed by a collage of images of the town and its people as they are 50 years later. Wynford Vaughan Thomas, narrating his own commentary, wonders if "colour"- superficial re-decoration – can really make any difference to "the inner heart of Senghenydd". Shot on spare, blank pieces of film by James Clark. Assisted by local amateur photographer and former miner Bill Probert. Script written and narrated by Wynford Vaughan Thomas. 1964.
A docudrama on the closing of the town of Schefferville. When Raoul loses his job at the mine because the operations are ending, he's been settled there for ten years with Carmen and their son. They're now forced to leave the town, leaving behind the traces of an ephemeral prosperity.
Kelet is a twentysomething black trans woman, whose greatest dream is to be on the cover of Vogue magazine. For the Finnish-born and Manchester-raised Kelet, such models as Naomi Campbell and Iman served as role models giving her strength – and during the darkest times, kept her alive. After coming out, then 19-year-old Kelet was cut off from her family and she moved back to Finland on her own.
Finland’s first nature documentary. The filmmakers’ expedition leads them all the way to the Åland Islands and the Karelian Isthmus.
Finnish award-winning barista Kalle Freese travels to San Francisco with his girlfriend to start an instant coffee start-up with big goals. At stake are Kalle's health, relationship and the newly formed start-up.
For several decades, geoscientists have been observing that the Earth is changing rapidly due to human intervention. This action has such a great impact on the biological, geological and atmospheric processes of the Earth that some scientists speak of the dawn of a new epoch: the Age of Man or the Anthropocene.