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Swedish filmmaker Kjell-Åke Andersson is known for capturing some of the most iconic moments in pop culture, from Abba’s music videos to the miners’ strike in Wales. Breaking Point, his 1985 documentary about the struggles of the miners in Oakdale, Caerphilly county, is a snapshot of life in the village one month before the end of the strike.
In an interview with BBC, the 75-year-old filmmaker explained that his intention with the documentary was to portray the miners’ solidarity in the face of Margaret Thatcher’s propaganda. He wanted to show the world that the strike was not just about politics, but about people fighting for their livelihoods.
Ray and Kath Francis, who lived in the same house in Ystrad Mynach where their children grew up, are one of the focal points of the documentary. Ray was one of the thousands of Welsh miners on strike between 1984-85, while Kath supported the strikers by setting up food collection and distribution groups. The documentary highlights how the strike transformed the lives of many women, including Kath, who went on to study for a degree at university and became a social worker.
Breaking Point sheds a light on the solidarity of mining communities in south Wales during the final few weeks of the strike. Poverty and despair had increased during the course of the strike, leading many miners across Britain to return to the pits. However, the documentary did not sense the strike would end soon while it was being filmed.
Andersson was angry with the international media’s portrayal of the strike, sparking his desire to make a documentary about the subject. His experience of the strike in Oakdale transformed him, and he returned to the village 40 years later to catch up with some of the families featured in the documentary
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