This film is part of Free
Big Pit
Memories of Blaenavon Colliery, Monmouthshire, as it nears its end.
Overview
Images of Blaenavon Colliery, Monmouthshire, nearing its death, starkly adorn the soundtrack’s fascinating and poignant oral history, courtesy of men whose memories of mining there stretch back to the turn of the 20th century. This commemorative film was produced, in a nicely understated style, by the film unit of the National Coal Board - the body responsible for managing and, now, closing the pit.
Blaenavon had witnessed many changes - of both ownership and technology - but the one constant was the camaraderie of the men who worked there. Director-cameraman John Reid, a thirty-year veteran of coal filmmaking, wisely sticks with a simple and spare technique, making for a moving rather than sentimental viewing experience. The mine, the film dares suggest, "will leave more than a passing imprint". And in fact it has. Blaenavon today is the site of The Big Pit National Coal Museum of Wales.
Related
Miner Miner
Documentary 1950 36 mins Silent Location: Featherstone
Absorbing overview of coalmining in the early years of nationalisation.
Thud and Blunder in Knock off Time Thud and Blunder in Knock off Time
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1964 2 mins
Miners' safety training - marked by stylish animation and gallows humour.
Energy Energy
Advert 1935 42 mins Silent Location: Cardiff/Caerdydd
Coal, between the world wars, makes the industrialised world go round and Cory Bros & Co Ltd, with collieries in south Wales and oil refineries across the globe, is a major player.
Guilty Chimneys Guilty Chimneys
Documentary 1954 18 mins
Elegiac sponsored film imploring viewers to "allow the sun to penetrate the haze of ignorance" and relieve British cities of pollution.
People Will Always Need Coal People Will Always Need Coal
Advert 1975 1 mins
Deliriously kitsch recruitment ad for the implausibly glamorous world of coalmining.
Campaign to Organise the General Strike Campaign to Organise the General Strike
Campaigning film 1984 32 mins
Young Socialists take the lead in the struggle against the "Tory dictatorship" led by Margaret Thatcher.
Biography of a Blind Man Biography of a Blind Man
Biopic 1960 14 mins Location: Varteg
Blinded at 15, Michael has never sought the support of other blind people, preferring to mix with the sighted, despite the difficulties.
New Perspectives: Pusher New Perspectives: Pusher
Short documentary 2025 5 mins
Noah Bell of Northumbria University explains why you should seize the chance to watch Nicolas Winding Refn's debut.
Twin Peaks star Kyle MacLachlan on working with David Lynch - Q&A Twin Peaks star Kyle MacLachlan on working with David Lynch - Q&A
Inside Film 2025 38 mins
Kyle MacLachlan talks to BFI CEO Ben Roberts about working with David Lynch on the legendary series Twin Peaks.
On Falling - Exclusive Q&A On Falling - Exclusive Q&A
Inside Film 2025 30 mins
Writer-director Laura Carreira talks to Nia Childs about her debut feature, On Falling.
Layla - Exclusive Q&A Layla - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2025 27 mins
Writer, director and performer Amrou Al-Kadhi talks to Rico Johnson-Sinclair about their debut feature.
All We Imagine As Light - Exclusive Q&A All We Imagine As Light - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2025 28 mins
Payal Kapadia discusses her Cannes prize-winning and Bafta-nominated drama with Ashanti Omkar.
Khichdi Khichdi
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2023 16 mins
The interwoven stories of four best friends who reunite in the UK, thirty-five years after training together as nurses during their teens in Ferozepur, Punjab.