Two contrasting open-cast coalmines in America use some of the largest machines of their kinds to be found anywhere.
At the Belle Ayr mine, Gillette, Wyoming, one of the world’s biggest electric shovels, the P&H 4100XPB, is removing overburden above the coal seams.
It dwarfs the Caterpillar 797B haul trucks it loads, even though these are the largest mechanically driven trucks in the world.

Lt. Frank Drebbin returns to save the day once again. This time he s out to foil the big boys in the energy business. A top scientist (Dr Mainheimer) is about to publish his report on energy supply for the future. Things don t look good for the traditional suppliers; oil, coal and nuclear. To save their industries, the suppliers kidnap Mainheimer and replace him with a decoy with a more favourable report. Jane, the Dr s secretary, is Drebbin s old flame; they re passionate love affair is thus rekindled.

Harlan County, USA is an Oscar-winning 1976 documentary film covering the "Brookside Strike" or "Bloody Harlan", an effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the Duke Power Company-owned Eastover Coal Company's Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan County, Kentucky in 1973.Directed by Barbara Kopple, who has long been an advocate of workers' rights.

Harlan County, USA is an Oscar-winning 1976 documentary film covering the Brookside Strike or Bloody Harlan , an effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the Duke Power Company-owned Eastover Coal Company s Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan County, Kentucky in 1973.Directed by Barbara Kopple, who has long been an advocate of workers rights.In this documentary about labor tension in the coal-mining industry, director Barbara Kopple films a strike in rural Kentucky. After the coal miners at the Brookside Mine join a union, the owners refuse the labor contract. Once the miners start to strike, the owners of the mine respond by hiring scabs to fill the jobs of the regular employees. The strike, which lasts more than a year, frequently becomes violent, with guns produced on both sides.

Donetsk is the coal-mining area of Ukraine. Here most people work for low wages in the run down mines, while others make a lot of money. No matter which side of the social divide you are on, coming from Donetsk you will almost certainly be an opponent of the Orange Revolution and a fan of the local football team, Shakhtar Donetsk. Billionaire Akhmetov invests heavily in the club, which is becoming a major European force during the season followed by the film. Yet this sporting success funded by an Oligarch fortune only seems to highlight the wider social and political stagnation of the region. Off the pitch, the outlook appears bleak...

Yorkshire, during the endless, violent 1984 strike against the Thatcher closure of British coal mines. Widower Jackie Elliot and his firstborn, fellow miner Tony, take a dim view of 11 year-old second son Billys poor record in boxing class, which worsens when they discover he sneakily transferred to the neighboring, otherwise girls-only-attended ballet class. Only one schoolmate, closet-gay Michael Caffrey, encourages Billys desire, aroused by the teacher, who judged him talented enough for private lesson, to train and try out for the world-renowned Royal Ballet audition. Only the prospect of a fancy career unimagined in the pauper quarter may twist pa and big brothers opposition to indispensable support.

County Durham, during the endless, violent 1984 strike against the Thatcher closure of British coal mines. Widower Jackie Elliot and his firstborn, fellow miner Tony, take a dim view of 11 year-old second son Billy s poor record in boxing class, which worsens when they discover he sneakily transferred to the neighboring, otherwise girls-only-attended ballet class. Only one schoolmate, closet-gay Michael Caffrey, encourages Billy s desire, aroused by the teacher, who judged him talented enough for private lesson, to train and try out for the world-renowned Royal Ballet audition. Only the prospect of a fancy career unimagined in the pauper quarter may twist pa and big brother s opposition to indispensable support.

County Durham, during the endless, violent 1984 strike against the Thatcher closure of British coal mines. Widower Jackie Elliot and his firstborn, fellow miner Tony, take a dim view of 11 year-old second son Billy s poor record in boxing class, which worsens when they discover he sneakily transferred to the neighboring, otherwise girls-only-attended ballet class. Only one schoolmate, closet-gay Michael Caffrey, encourages Billy s desire, aroused by the teacher, who judged him talented enough for private lesson, to train and try out for the world-renowned Royal Ballet audition. Only the prospect of a fancy career unimagined in the pauper quarter may twist pa and big brother s opposition to indispensable support.

Nobody likes Joseph, but he didn t really care until his beloved dog went missing. Now Joseph is pissed. But the final straw is when his girlfriend leaves him and his home is vandalized. Now Joseph decides to do something - bringing an old fable back to life about a wolf that was black as coal and feared like death. The first targets are foster parents Sam and Doris whose sunny fall morning has turned into an unspeakable nightmare...

County Durham, during the endless, violent 1984 strike against the Thatcher closure of British coal mines. Widower Jackie Elliot and his firstborn, fellow miner Tony, take a dim view of 11 year-old second son Billy s poor record in boxing class, which worsens when they discover he sneakily transferred to the neighboring, otherwise girls-only-attended ballet class. Only one schoolmate, closet-gay Michael Caffrey, encourages Billy s desire, aroused by the teacher, who judged him talented enough for private lesson, to train and try out for the world-renowned Royal Ballet audition. Only the prospect of a fancy career unimagined in the pauper quarter may twist pa and big brother s opposition to indispensable support.