Barbara Kopple Won Oscars for Films About Coal Miners and Meatpackers, Now She Aims at Amazon

Barbara Kopple on Her Labor Documentary Masterpieces

Half a century after its release, Harlan County USA (1976) still lands with the force of something happening in the present tense. The documentary is full of scenes that have become part of the language of labor in the United States: miners’ wives holding the picket line at dawn, a woman pulling a gun from her bra in preparation to face down company violence, picketers singing “Which Side Are You On?” as trucks try to break through their line. I…

Barbara Kopple won Oscars for films about coal miners and meatpackers, now she aims at Amazon

Director Barbara Kopple, one of the leaders in the field of documentary filmmaking, has been on the frontlines recording the American labor movement since her groundbreaking 1976 feature debut Harlan County, U.S.A. Following the struggles of a coal miner’s strike in Kentucky, Kopple found a story of community solidarity and corporate cruelty––a struggle of David and Goliath proportions. About a decade later, she drove to Austin, Minnesota, to fi…

Why Barbara Kopple’s Labor Films Remain As Urgent as Ever

Ben Schwartz As her Oscar-winning labor documentaries return to theaters, Kopple reflects on union-busting, gig work, and her latest film on unions. The post Why Barbara Kopple’s Labor Films Remain As Urgent as Ever appeared first on The Nation.