#stilltheenemywithin In yesterday’s NHS strike, soldiers were deployed to ambulance stations in some parts of the country, as England’s Chief Nursing Officer claimed that ‘robust plans’ were in place to counter the industrial action. Such a disproportionate state response to a 4 hour stoppage in public services shows that nothing much has changed in the industrial landscape since the 1984/85 miners strike.
The new documentary film Still the Enemy Within is a powerful reminder of the extraordinary struggle of the National Union of Mineworkers to defend their communities and livelihoods in the face of a calculated attack by a ruthless Tory Government. Using a combination of personal testimonies, archive footage, photographs and re-enactment, the film reflects on what the strike achieved in terms of solidarity and struggle but perhaps more importantly why it ultimately resulted in defeat. An important fact highlighted early in the film is that only 16,000 of the NUM’s then 160,000 membership were active on the frontline during the strike.
In these days of Hollywood blockbusters with mega publicity budgets and associated merchandising, geared more to the needs of the film companies than the audiences, it’s refreshing to come across a film like The Happy Lands. And very unusual. It’s rare to come across a film about the 1926 General Strike, far less one filmed professionally with a £1m+ budget.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/happy-lands-tells-tale-brave-2669259
But what makes The Happy Lands special in this story of a Fife mining community’s response to austerity and adversity is that:
• All the actors are local people
Brian Reade wrote in the Daily Mirror last week of his work with the Jack Jones Trust.
Reade has spoken and written of the need for a film that celebrates the life of Jack Jones, once voted the most powerful man in Britain. He is working with the family of Jack and the Jack Jones Trust in order to get funding for the film on this year the 100th Anniversary of his birth.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/brian-reade-jack-jones-greatest-1747600
The Trust has been backed by UNISON NW, a number of UNISON branches, Unite, RMT and other UK unions. The Trust is still some way off its target. For further information visit
http://www.jackjonestrust.com/
The Happy Lands, the inspirational Scottish film about the miners' struggles in 1926, was very well received at this year's Glasgow Film Festival and is now embarking on a tour of Britain and international film festivals:
http://www.morningstaronline.co
.uk/news/content/view/full/129707
The tour is modeled on the great American road show theatrical releases of the past - a limited number of screenings, to gage the appetite for a more general release of a title, and to garner interest in the film.
Please click links below to venues for more information and to purchase tickets.
The Happy Lands is a film about the 1926 General Strike in Fife. Interesting, but so what? Well what makes this film unique is that the actors are all local people (including UNISON members), the script was written by local people, and even the film sets were built by local people - all under the direction of Theatre Workshop Scotland. A taste of what's been achieved can be seen in the trailer
https://vimeo.com/42118987
#ShortsLucky13 The following short film "They came in the morning" is filmed in Walaja and uses footage shot over five critical years in the life of Bethlehem during the making of upcoming feature film "Operation Bethlehem".
A brilliant new Positive Money documentary explains how our money system works. Watched 65,000 times in the first 14 days, this is the first UK-based documentary to explain the fundamental flaws in our monetary system. You can
watch the film online here or
attend a screening, so far planned in Sheffield, London and Richmond (North Yorkshire)
