Miners' Hymns - Polesworth

In partnership with Forma, Flatpack are presenting a screening of The Miners’ Hymns, a bewitching, hypnotic and moving portrait of the British miners made by renowned American filmmaker Bill Morrison (Decasia) and acclaimed Icelandic musician and composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. The film is made up almost entirely of archive footage and celebrates the social, cultural, and political aspects of the extinct industry. Focusing on the Durham coalfield, it depicts the hardship of pit work, increasing mechanisation, the role of trade unions in organising and fighting for workers’ rights, and their annual Miners’ Gala in Durham. Jóhann Jóhannsson’s exquisite composition for the film draws upon the brass music tradition that was so intertwined with the mining communities.

As well as The Miners’ Hymns we’ll also be screening a selection of archive shorts featuring footage provided by the Media Archive for Central England of miners in the Midlands. Author David Bell (The Dirty Thirty: Heroes of the Miners' Strike) will be joining us to give an insight into the Staffordshire mining industry.