The Miners' Campaign Tapes

Synopsis

In 1984 a group of independent film and video makers decided to show their support for the miners' strike using the tools they had available: their cameras. On the picket lines, at the marches and in the soup kitchens, they recorded the testimonies of the striking miners, their wives and supporters, in a fight against anti-strike propaganda dominating the mainstream media. A testament to solidarity and activism, the tapes tackle issues which continue to occupy us today: the right to demonstrate, police tactics, political double-speak, the role of the media. They are a crucial document of a cataclysmic episode of British history.

Film Listing

- Not Just Tea And Sandwiches (11'48 mins)
- The Coal Board's Butchery (14'04 mins)
- Solidarity (12'40 mins)
- Straight Speaking (10'28 mins)
- The Lie Machine (15'50 mins)
- Only Doing Their Job? (25'20 mins)

Special Features

- Booklet with essays by Chris Reeves of Platform Films (discussing the making and distribution of the tapes), David Peace (author of GB84 and the Red Riding thrillers) and Julian Petley (co-author of Media Hits the Pits: the Media and Coal Dispute and Shafted: the Media, the Miners' Strike and the Aftermath).