Parents need to know that Harlan County, USA is a riveting and intense 1976 documentary chronicling a 13-month miners' strike in eastern Kentucky that shows violent altercations between strikers and union-busters, as well as the funeral of a murdered striker where family members are expressing deep shock and sorrow. The striking miners in Barbara Kopple's 1976 direct cinema landmark Harlan County U.S.A. appeal to a higher authority than state law (represented by the sheriff and state troopers clearing roads for Eastover Mining Co.’s scab workers), namely the Constitution. Video taken in Harlan … The strike breakers have the full support of the law. I was born in Harlan County but escaped to spend a career in the US Air Force. It happens to be a documentary, but the story is as stirring and suspenseful as any Hollywood thriller. Rounder Records has also added related material drawn mostly from two earlier album releases, 1972's Come All You Coal Miners and 1984's They'll Never Keep Us Down: Women's … The ugly side of America that you don’t see. My Dad owned a small independent mine for a period but was forced out of business by union miners who threatened his leased truckers to the point that they refused to transport his coal over Pine Mountain to the railroad. It also highlights the lack of response of the United Mine Workers of America (UWMA) towards the plight of the workers. Several of the songs on this intense collection were featured in Barbara Kopple's powerful 1976 documentary Harlan County, USA which followed a 13-month United Mine Workers' strike in Harlan County, KY in 1973. A historic documentary of American mineworkers' strike for improved conditions. With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners’ sometimes violent struggles with strikebreakers, local police, and company thugs. Barbara Kopple was ground breaking and extremely talented. Get info about new releases, essays and interviews on the Current, Top 10 lists, and sales. citing. Select the department you want to search in. The film follows what was known as the Brookside Strike, when around 180 coal miners in 1973 fought for better working conditions against Eastover Coal Company, owned by Duke Power Company. With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners' sometimes violent struggles with strikebreakers, local police, and company thugs. Barbara Kopple’s Oscar winning film is a record of Kentucky coal miners on strike with demands to get unionized. Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2007. Its county seat is Harlan.. With regard to the sale of alcohol, it is classified as a moist county—a county in which alcohol sales are prohibited (a dry county), but containing a "wet" city, in this case Cumberland, where package alcohol sales are allowed. Poverty, hopelessness and addiction have swept through to fill the void. Harlan County, U.S.A. (2006) Rated NR 103 minutes Produced and directed by Barbara Kopple; Latest blog posts. It’s political, it’s violent, it’s ethnic. HARLAN COUNTY, USA is an Oscar-winning documentary about a 13-month strike between coal miners and the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in … "Harlan County, USA" is real-life drama of the highest order. And all while the fat cat executives got fatter. The women of Harlan County provided much of the lifeblood of the strike, and Kopple’s documentation of the strike provided publicity, dignity, and a way to begin to heal. With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners’ sometimes violent struggles with … Barbara Kopple. Organizing in mines in Harlan County had been very bloody in the 1930’s and achieved small progress, which in the ensuing 40 years was no doubt eradicated by inflation. One of nine children, they lived at Benham, Kentucky. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Harlan had long been infamous for labor disputes and family feuds, but shortly after the sale, a protracted labor strike was captured in the 1976 Oscar-winning documentary film, Harlan County, USA. 1 day ago Netflix’s The Irregulars … It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Cal Winslow takes a look back. Barbara Koppel’s 1976 documentary Harlan County, USA depicts the efforts of coal miners employed by the Duke Power Company in Brookside, Kentucky (in Harlan County) to win recognition for their union, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), after the company’s refusal to accept the miners’ petition for union membership. The film was made over the duration of the resulting … Harlan County, USA. Harlan County, USA followed 200 coal-mining families and their battle to get their rights, what every human being needs, and yet it's unbaised. Although realistic dramas still attracted mass audiences—as evidenced by Dog Day … Extremely moving and inspiring for anyone with social interests. Harlan County War (2000) was a dramatic film based on the Eastover/Brookside strike. Genres: Direct Cinema, Political Documentary. Analysis of the documentary Harlan County, USA Essay. It was the dawn of the blockbuster age: the buzz around Jaws had barely receded, and Star Wars loomed on the horizon. HARLAN COUNTY, USA, Barbara Kopple’s feature length film about a coal miners’ strike in Kentucky, is the best U.S. documentary in a long time. Kopple’s documentary, Harlan County, USA won the Academy Award Best Documentary in 1976 for covering the United Mine Worker’s strike at Brookside Mine and … Harlan County, USA. Harlan County, USA is one of the greatest documentaries ever made. Today there is a ball field and park where these houses used to stand. 2 pages, 932 words. It documented organizing during a second major period of labor unrest in the 1970s, particularly around the Brookside Strike. Its editing is ragged; its narrative structure is confusing and begins to unravel towards the end. They’re shot at and beaten. It well deserves its Academy Award, and 1990 inclusion in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners’ sometimes violent struggles with strikebreakers, local police, and company thugs. Barbara Kopple's 1976 documentary "Harlan County USA" remains one of the finest portraits of the struggle between faceless and greedy corporations and the employees who work themselves to the bone to eke out a living. The best documentary I've seen. With a haunting country and bluegrass soundtrack, Harlan County USA is a powerful, sometimes heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.Harlan County USA (Criterion Collection) (DVD) Shows what it was like with the bosses and their thuggish henchmen,only difference with UK our bosses had policemen.Very well made. Sign in to see videos available to you. Men and women walk down the entrance steps of the building. This is a must see documentary for anyone interested in making documentaries or learning about the history of America. Harlan County, USA. Video availability outside of United States varies. Jessica Walter: 1941-2021 . Harlan County USA Criterion Collection Edition #334 Barbara Kopple’s Academy Award-winning HARLAN COUNTY USA unflinchingly documents a grueling coal miners’ strike in a small Kentucky town. The pink wad is brain tissue from a striker shot in the head by a strikebreaker. The coal miners of Harlan County Kentucky want to unionise and their employers are not happy about it. Harlan County, USA Barbara Kopple spent thirteen months living and breathing the dust of a brutal coal strike. Jessica Walter: 1941-2021 . The county was the subject of the documentary film Harlan County, USA (1976), directed by Barbara Kopple. Kate and Laura Mulleavy founded Rodarte in Los Angeles, California, in 2005. Interviewer's description- "Lois Scott was born in 1929, six days after the stock market crashed. Harlan County USA was restored and preserved by the Women’s Preservation Fund and the Academy Film Archive, and was featured as part of the Sundance Collection at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005. The 2010 Population was 29,222 and has seen a growth of -13.04% since this time. In Episode 2 of the Drunk Projectionist film podcast, host Todd Melby interviewed Barbara Kopple about Harlan County USA, her impressive first film.The 1976 documentary won an Academy Award. Harlan County USA Barbara Kopple’s Academy Award–winning Harlan County USA unflinchingly documents a grueling coal miners’ strike in a small Kentucky town. Benham, Kentucky Brookside strike "Harlan County USA" Call Number: 2007.001.0729. One of my fav documentaries. Fascinating story. This fantastic documentary captured open class war in the coalfields as it happened. With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners' sometimes violent struggles with strikebreakers, local police, and company thugs. Harlan County, USA documents a dark subject, but it is far from being a dark picture. Maybe you think that love of coal means love of the company. 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