Once We Were Pitmen
May 10, 2023 | IMDB 8
103 min Watch NowDocumentary
Black dust, shrill metallic noises, dark tunnels, muscular bodies – all that is the past. At the end of 2018, extraction of coal throughout Germany came to an end. That same year, the voices of the emerging climate protest movement Fridays for Future grew louder. Against the backdrop of these media and socio-political events, the film follows five miners on their tragic, humorous and heartwarming search for a new role in life.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Malartic
To Shura
The Land of Mine
Uranium
River of Gold
Crónicas desde La Arboleda
Ferrum
Der lange Abschied von der Kohle
Arica
Vi som solgte landet
Westray
Iron and Steel Supply of the World
500 Years
The Cost of Cobalt
In Memory of the Land and People
Piedad: una roca va al psiquiatra
Which Side Are You On?
Bimblebox
Úderník
Breakpoint: A Counter History of Progress
SIMILAR MOVIES
Malartic
IMDB 8 | Feb , 2024
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.To Shura
IMDB 0 | Jan , 1990
Throughout her life, Aleksandra has done hard physical work, believing in God and the imminent end of human suffering. Shura, 64, works at the top of the ash hill of the North-Eastern Estonian coal mine.The Land of Mine
IMDB 4.5 | Jun , 2016
Republic of Finland is promoting clean technology by organizing Green Mining seminars where foreign experts tell us how the development of the world is becoming increasingly expensive by 2050. The Earth is running out of resources and mining companies have to use increasingly low-grade metal deposits. Finland aims to be a model country for environmentally friendly mining. Its pioneer project is Talvivaara, which uses new biotechnology to extract nickel, zinc and uranium. Through several charismatic characters, the documentary film The Land Of Mine follows the rise of the biggest nickel mine in Western Europe and the ensuing disasters whose effects continue to reverberate in the nation.Uranium
IMDB 0 | Nov , 1990
Explores the consequences of uranium mining in Canada. Toxic and radioactive waste pose profound, long-term environmental hazards. Miners suffer a substantially increased risk of getting cancer. Most mining occurs on Indigenous People's land, violating their traditional economic and spiritual lives. Given our limited knowledge of the risks associated with uranium mining, why continue?River of Gold
IMDB 0 | Mar , 2016
Narrated by Academy Award winners Sissy Spacek and Herbie Hancock, River of Gold is the disturbing account of a clandestine journey into Peru's Amazon rainforest to uncover the savage unraveling of pristine jungle. What will be the fate of this critical region of priceless biodiversity as these extraordinarily beautiful forests are turned into a hellish wasteland?Crónicas desde La Arboleda
IMDB 0 | May , 2010
Ferrum
IMDB 7.2 | Jan , 1963
Unconventional portrayal of mining in the Swedish Lapland ore fields, a powerful image and sound symphony that can be experienced both as a documentary and symbolic work.Der lange Abschied von der Kohle
IMDB 0 | Sep , 2017
Arica
IMDB 7.5 | Nov , 2020
A Swedish mining giant, Boliden, is accused of having dumped 20000 tonnes of toxic waste in a poor neighborhood in a Chilean desert town.Vi som solgte landet
IMDB 7 | Oct , 2025
Westray
IMDB 0 | Sep , 2001
In this feature documentary, filmmaker Paul Cowan offers an innovative, moving account of the Westray coal mine disaster that killed 26 men in Nova Scotia on May 9, 1992. The film focuses on the lives of three widows and three miners lucky enough not to be underground that day when the methane and coal dust ignited. But their lives were torn apart by the events. Meet some of the working men, who felt they had no option but to stay on at Westray. And wives, who heard the rumours, saw their men sometimes bloodied from accidents and stood by them, hoping it would all turn out all right. This is a film about working people everywhere whose lives are often entrusted to companies that violate the most fundamental rules of safety and decency in the name of profit.Iron and Steel Supply of the World
IMDB 0 | Sep , 1947
Time-travel to a 1940s classroom with this exemplary educational film.500 Years
IMDB 5.9 | Apr , 2017
From a historic genocide trial to the overthrow of a president, the sweeping story of mounting resistance played out in Guatemala’s recent history is told through the actions and perspectives of the majority indigenous Mayan population, who now stand poised to reimagine their society.The Cost of Cobalt
IMDB 0 | Mar , 2021
In the cobalt mining areas of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), babies are being born with horrific birth defects. Scientists and doctors are finding increasing evidence of environmental pollution from industrial mining which, they believe, may be the cause of a range of malformations from cleft palate to some so serious the baby is stillborn. More than 60% of the world’s reserves of cobalt are in the DRC and this mineral is essential for the production of electric car batteries, which may be the key to reducing carbon emissions and to slowing climate change. In The Cost of Cobalt we meet the doctors treating the children affected and the scientists who are measuring the pollution. Cobalt may be part of the global solution to climate change, but is it right that Congo’s next generation pay the price with their health? Many are hoping that the more the world understands their plight, the more pressure will be put on the industry here to clean up its act.In Memory of the Land and People
IMDB 0 | Jan , 1977
“…It is a film that tells in hurried film sequences and a resonant musical score juxtaposing the sublime, funereal despair of Bartok agains tthe gut-bare tones of folk music. Gates has through his filming technique and meticulously selected mining sites, captured all the outrage and sorrow and indignity to the land and its people that strip mining represents. The film is one that all Americans should see, for it shows extremely well the price we have to pay for strip mined coal.” - Dale A. Burk, The Montana “Missoulian”Piedad: una roca va al psiquiatra
IMDB 7 | Dec , 2015
From the creators of 31 Minutos, here comes the story of a rock that didn't want to grow up...Which Side Are You On?
IMDB 6.5 | Apr , 1985
The documentary features the British miners and their family experiences told through songs, poems, pictures and words.Bimblebox
IMDB 0 | Feb , 2026
The Bimblebox Nature Refuge lies in the path of what will be the earths largest coal mines. One woman, Paola Cassoni, decides to resist the "China First" project that will destroy her Nature Refuge and supply energy to Asia for the next thirty years. Paola's decision brings the viewer on a tour of Australia's "Quarry Vision". At this critical time, when so much coal and coal seam gas expansion is planned in Australia, this film aims to win the hearts and minds of the people, exposing the destructiveness of this industry to our climate, communities and environment. It tells the stories of the people fighting for their homes and culture. Australia is the worlds largest exporter of coal supplying one third of the worlds supply. It is impossible to address climate change without looking at Australia's role in the planets climate future. http://www.screenzone.tv/products/bimbleboxÚderník
IMDB 0 | Dec , 1950
Documentary about the emergence of the strike movement in the iron ore mines of Rudňa in Slovakia. The miner Michal Ogurčák introduced a new way of mining iron ore here, overcame initial misunderstandings, and eventually inspired 160 followers to perform striking feats by his example.Breakpoint: A Counter History of Progress
IMDB 7.7 | Jul , 2019
An account of the last two centuries of the Anthropocene, the Age of Man. How human beings have progressed so much in such a short time through war and the selfish interests of a few, belligerent politicians and captains of industry, damaging the welfare of the majority of mankind, impoverishing the weakest, greedily devouring the limited resources of the Earth.