Making culture out of coal

The Miners’ Hymns is a lyrical portrait of our once huge coal industry by the American artist and film maker Bill Morrison.

Using rarely-seen footage from the British Film Institute, the BBC, and other archives, Morrisoncelebrates social, cultural, and political aspects of the extinct industry.

Focusing on the Durham coalfield located in northeastern England, it depicts the hardship of pit work, the role of Trade Unions in organising and fighting for workers’ rights, the years of increased mechanization and the annual Miners’ Gala in Durham.

The film also shows pitched battles between miners and police that took place during the 1984-5 strike which sounded the death knell for the British mining industry.

The Miner’s Hymns will be screened with Memo Mori, a short tracing the loss, disappearance and changing urban environment in Hackney.

The screening begins at 6.3opm on Monday October 27. Tickets cost £6, £5 concs, £4 under 18s. Call 01524 598500 or see www.dukes-lancaster.org/