The Miners of Donetsk

Malartic

February 2024 •French

Ten years after an enormous open-pit gold mine began operations in Malartic, the hoped-for economic miracle is nothing more than a mirage. Filmmaker Nicolas Paquet explores the glaring contrast between the town’s decline and the wealth of the mining company, along with the mechanisms of an opaque decision-making system in which ordinary people have little say. Part anthropological study, part investigation into the corridors of power, Malartic addresses the fundamental issue of sustainable and fair land management.

Ninja White

November 2021 •French

It’s an icy cold winter in Ulaanbaatar. Abel, a young French cartographer living in Mongolia, goes to a seminar with his new colleagues. After an evening of drinking, he wakes up in a camp of yurts out in the steppe, alone. Lost, he decides to take to the road in the biting cold. Luckily, he is picked up by a gang of nomadic bikers who dig gold illegally and shoot drones: real ninjas.

The Heart of the Earth

March 2007 •Spanish

Tensions mount in an Andalusia mining town between local Spanish workers and their British employers.

Das Wunder von Lengede

November 2003 •German

Danger Zone

August 1996 •English

Rick Morgan, an American engineer who runs a mine in East Africa, is approached one day by his friend Jim Scott, who needs someplace to store canisters of toxic waste. Unfortunately, a spill occurs a short time later, resulting in deaths and Morgan having to leave the country. A year later, he is approached by a government agent looking for a missing supply of potentially hazardous poison, which in truth hides something even more valuable.

The Girl of Lost Lake

August 1916 •English

Woman of the North Country

July 1952 •English

In 1890 Minnesota Christine Powell is the scheming head of the Powell dynasty, the richest mining empire of the era. But the Powell mine deposits are diminishing. The Mesabi range represents a whole new productive area but the rights to mine there are held by a young geological engineer, Kyle Ramlo. The latter reaches an impasse when he needs money to continue his experimentation with open-pit mining and goes to Miss Powell for financing. She displays great interest in both his inventive mining method and in him personally but secretly plots to destroy him and take over his Masabi rights. The gullible Ramlo falls into clutches while the girl he really loves, Cathy Norlund, tries desperately to open his eyes to Christine's scheme.

Payada pa' Satán

January 2013 •Spanish

Stop motion short film against open pit mining.

Wildrose

May 1984 •English

June Lorich works at the Mesabi Mine on Minnesota's iron range. After an emotionally and physically abusive marriage, June is determined to make it on her own. But the worsening steel industry forces major cutbacks and June is bumped down to an all-male pit. She becomes the brunt of the other workers' hostilities and is forced to fight against them -- and the man she loves -- to save her job.

Where the Green Ants Dream

August 1984 •German

The Australian Aborigines (in this film anyway) believe that this is the place where the green ants go to dream, and that if their dreams are disturbed, it will bring down disaster on us all. The Aborigines' belief is not shared by a giant mining company, which wants to tear open the soil and search for uranium.

Fire at the Mine

October 1911 •French

World of Tomorrow

January 2015 •English

A little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of her distant future.

The Ballad of Little Jo

August 1993 •English

After being thrown out of her home, a young woman decides to disguise herself as a man to survive the ruthless Wild West.

Margaret's Museum

September 1995 •English

In a town where half the men die down the coalpit, Margaret MacNeil is quite happy being single in her small Cape Breton island town. Until she meets Neil Currie, a charming and sincere bagpipe-playing, Gaelic-speaking dishwasher. But no matter what you do, you can't avoid the spectre of the pit forever.

Strange Colours

November 2018 •English

Milena travels to a remote opal mining community to see her estranged, ill father. Lost and alone, she falls into his bewildering world, where men escape society and share ideals of freedom. Soon, he doesn’t want her to leave. Stuck in time, father and daughter try to mend their fractured bond, but their connection is fragile, like the strange, colourful gems he digs up from the earth.

The 33

August 2015 •English

Based on the true story of the collapse of a mine in San Jose, Chile—that left 33 miners isolated underground for 69 days.

The Inner Voice

September 1920 •English

Mark Reid, a young prospector, discovers gold in the Sierra foothills. He meets an old man known as "The Good Samaritan," who counsels him and welcomes him into his home. While he is away registering his claim, another prospector, Mike O'Hara, comes along, and, seeing no one around, takes possession of the gold mine. When Reid returns, the two engage in a struggle. As Reid is about to be overcome, an Indian slips a dagger into his hand. Reid is about to stab O'Hara when The Good Samaritan appears and stops the fight. Reid and the O'Hara set aside their differences and decide to become partners.

Das Wunder von Lengede

February 1969 •German

Fighting Mad

February 1976 •English

An evil corporation tries to pressure a bunch of Arkansas farmers and ranchers to sell their land so they can strip-mine it for coal. The fiercely proud and stubborn Hunter family refuse to give in. This leads to a bitter conflict that results in several casualties. Eventually the take-charge no-nonsense Tom Hunter exacts a harsh revenge on the villains with the help of his bow and arrow.

Germinal

September 1963 •French

Dismissed from the railroads in 1863 for his union activities, Etienne Lantier found a job at the Voreux coal mine. But work was hard, wages were low and safety left much to be desired. Lantier tried to organize the miners into a union. When mine manager Hennebeau refused to negotiate, the workers launched a general strike, which ended with the intervention of the troops.