Trouble and Strife
From the collection of
Lydia Oh Lydia
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- 1991
Trouble and Strife (Briefing)
Coalminers' wives are a force to be reckoned with when they pit themselves against the coal board.
All coal mining in Britain was nationalised in 1932, and by 1984 was entirely managed by the National Coal Board. A number of factors led to a strike of mine workers from March 1984 to March 1985, in what has been described as "the most bitter industrial dispute in British history". Given the level of government control over the industry, many strikers felt that this was a fight against the Prime Minister herself. Battle lines were drawn, and miners' wives mobilized to do more than just make the tea.
A special edition of the Tyne Tees Television current affairs programme Briefing, produced one year after the Miners' Strike, which follows two groups of miners' wives living in County Durham, Easington and Durham City, who are continuing the fight to save coal mines in their regions and support unemployed miners and their communities.
Tags
Returning the Gaze
From reproductive rights to unemployment: women tell their own stories in their own way.
At the time these films were made, the vast majority of camera operators, writers and directors were men. For generations, when women's stories were told in film, they were frequently told by men and from the perspective of the male onlooker. In this collection women are given back their voice, and while the subject matter is diverse, the authenticity of the female perspective shines through in every film.
7 videos in this collection
1
Lydia Oh Lydia
2
Accept Me, I'm Single
3
Choices
4
Break Down the Wall
5
Trouble and Strife
6
Briefing [02/04/1984]
7