This film is part of Free
Big Pit
Memories of Blaenavon Colliery, Monmouthshire, as it nears its end.
Industry sponsored film 1978 7 mins
Overview
Images of Blaenavon Colliery, Monmouthshire, nearing its death, starkly adorn the soundtrack’s fascinating and poignant oral history, courtesy of men whose memories of mining there stretch back to the turn of the 20th century. This commemorative film was produced, in a nicely understated style, by the film unit of the National Coal Board - the body responsible for managing and, now, closing the pit.
Blaenavon had witnessed many changes - of both ownership and technology - but the one constant was the camaraderie of the men who worked there. Director-cameraman John Reid, a thirty-year veteran of coal filmmaking, wisely sticks with a simple and spare technique, making for a moving rather than sentimental viewing experience. The mine, the film dares suggest, "will leave more than a passing imprint". And in fact it has. Blaenavon today is the site of The Big Pit National Coal Museum of Wales.
Related
Coal on Film
Miner Miner
Documentary 1950 36 mins Silent Location: Featherstone
Absorbing overview of coalmining in the early years of nationalisation.
Thud and Blunder in Knock off Time Thud and Blunder in Knock off Time
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1964 2 mins
Miners' safety training - marked by stylish animation and gallows humour.
Energy Energy
Advert 1935 42 mins Silent Location: Cardiff/Caerdydd
Coal, between the world wars, makes the industrialised world go round and Cory Bros & Co Ltd, with collieries in south Wales and oil refineries across the globe, is a major player.
Guilty Chimneys Guilty Chimneys
Documentary 1954 18 mins
Elegiac sponsored film imploring viewers to "allow the sun to penetrate the haze of ignorance" and relieve British cities of pollution.
People Will Always Need Coal People Will Always Need Coal
Advert 1975 1 mins
Deliriously kitsch recruitment ad for the implausibly glamorous world of coalmining.
Campaign to Organise the General Strike Campaign to Organise the General Strike
Campaigning film 1984 32 mins
Young Socialists take the lead in the struggle against the "Tory dictatorship" led by Margaret Thatcher.
Blaenavon
Biography of a Blind Man Biography of a Blind Man
Biopic 1960 14 mins Location: Varteg
Blinded at 15, Michael has never sought the support of other blind people, preferring to mix with the sighted, despite the difficulties.
New
Meow or Never Meow or Never
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2020 10 mins
In a madcap musical, a 'cat'-stronaut travels the galaxy looking for the meaning of life and encounters a space pup eager to help.
#WeAreHere #WeAreHere
Short documentary 2021 4 mins
A South Asian gaze on representation, inequality and discrimination in UK film and TV, set against the backdrop of the casting room.
I Choose I Choose
Drama 2020 11 mins
A young mother takes the biggest risk of her life when she makes a choice.
Vest Vest
Drama 2020 12 mins
A fostered little boy runs away from home to potentially dire consequences.
Vaidya Vaidya
Drama 2021 23 mins
Kabir meets the mysterious Vaidya on the beach while on holiday in Goa, in this short film which premiered at the London Indian Film Festival 2021.
I Told Sunset About You - Episode 1 I Told Sunset About You - Episode 1
Drama 2020 69 mins
After a huge argument and years of silence, two teenage boys living in Phuket meet up again by chance and gradually rebuild their relationship in this highly-acclaimed Thai TV series.