''Coal Face'' is a 1935 British documentary film short directed by

Alberto Cavalcanti Alberto de Almeida Cavalcanti (February 6, 1897 – August 23, 1982) was a Brazilian-born film director and film producer, producer. He was often credited under the single name "Cavalcanti". Early life Cavalcanti was born in Rio de Janeiro, ...

. With a film score by

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

and a poem written and narrated by

W.H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

, the film gives a glimpse into the lives of a Yorkshire mining community and the dangerous working conditions the miners routinely faced. The film largely reuses older footage from Tour of a British Coal Mine (1928), which was shot in

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

References

External links

* * 1935 films 1935 documentary films Black-and-white documentary films Films set in Wales Films directed by Alberto Cavalcanti Documentary films about mining British black-and-white films 1930s short documentary films British short documentary films GPO Film Unit films 1930s English-language films 1930s British films {{UK-documentary-film-stub