Skin and Coal at 40

This year Skin and Coal, Claudine Boothe’s first independent documentary, turns 40. We are marking the anniversary at the start of Black History Month.

Filmed in 1986, the 52-minute film follows two generations of coal miners of African and Caribbean descent, living and working in Doncaster, Leeds and Nottingham during the final years of Britain’s coal mining industry. In their own words, the miners and their families describe how Black workers moved up from the lowest-paid and most dangerous jobs to most roles underground, the conditions they worked in, and the discrimination they went on meeting outside the pits.

A unique record

Four decades on, Skin and Coal is still the only known audio-visual record of Caribbean people’s presence in this historic British industry: a story of resistance and resilience, told first-hand. The film is listed and used as educational material by the University of Nottingham, is catalogued by the Black Miners Museum, the archive of Black British coal mining heritage, and is frequently sourced by academic researchers.

Watch it, teach it, screen it

• Watch: the film is distributed by Concord Media on DVD, USB and video on demand. Links on our Watch page.
• Teach: a study guide for schools and universities, with background, discussion questions, activities and ready-made citations, is on our page for educators and researchers.
• Write about it: the press kit, stills and logos are on our press page.

Skin and Coal is available for public screenings, broadcast and educational licensing. To show it at your school, university, community group or festival, this Black History Month or later in the year, write to projects@bukimage.com.

Find out more about the film on its project page: Skin and Coal (1986)