Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976). Photofest.
(Barbara Kopple, US 1976, 103 min., 35mm)
Intending to cover struggles in the labor movement—and in the United Mine Workers of America in particular—filmmaker Barbara Kopple was on hand to capture the Brookside miners’ strike in 1973. Filmed over a turbulent year in the lives of striking Kentucky coal miners, Harlan County, U.S.A., is a visceral account of their explosive standoff with a harsh, at times violent, mining company. This gripping, human documentary is so pure, its effect so galvanizing, that it mesmerized the 1976 New York Film Festival. Armed with handheld 16mm cameras and synchronous sound-on-tape recording, Kopple and her crew were able to gain unprecedented access to the front lines of a labor standoff.