Boom Town: How Merthyr Made the World
2025 · 59m · Documentary
A unique mix of natural resources, daring investment, the fierce 'Merthyr spirit', global wars and a drive to innovate all transformed this valley town from rural idyl into an industrial superpower.
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Charleroi, the Land of 60 Mountains
2018
This is the portrait of an industrial city with its collapses, mutations, landscapes and language. A film that features René Magritte, a camp of homeless people, key figures in urban revival, the inventor of the Big Bang, Les Zèbres (Royal Charleroi Sporting Club) , socialism, the mute astonishment of childhood…
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Steel running through our veins
2025 · ★ 8.6
« Steel running through our veins » immerses us in the world of Liège's steelworkers, revealing an exceptional industrial and human saga. This captivating documentary explores the destinies forged by iron and fire through personal testimonies and previously unseen archives spanning 50 years. It highlights the social struggles and resilience of a community in the face of economic challenges. More than just a reflection on the past, this essential film questions our present and future, emphasizing the importance of solidarity and collective memory.
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Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks
2004 · ★ 7.8
A detailed look at the gradual decline of Shenyang’s industrial Tiexi district, an area that was once a vibrant example of China’s socialist economy. But industry is changing, and the factories of Tiexi are closing. Director Wang Bing introduces us to some of the workers affected by the closures, and to their families.
More info →The Year They Discovered People
1974
In the 1920s, Western Electric Company ordered a series of studies to be conducted at their plant in Cicero, Illinois. At first they wanted to see how lighting affected productivity on the factory floor. Researchers also interviewed employees to hear their ideas and opinions about company policies, management, and other subjects. These were the Hawthorne studies, landmark research in industrial and organizational psychology. In the early 1970s, some of the participants of this study—researchers and workers alike--reunited and reminisced about their involvement.
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The Canal Map of Britain
2024
A look at Britain's beloved canal network via a fact-filled cruise along the first superhighways of the Industrial Revolution. In the age before mechanisation, a frenzy of canal-building saw a new army of workers carve out the British landscape, digging out hundreds of miles of waterways using picks, shovels and muscle.
More info →This Is Tomorrow
1943 · ★ 7
This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short takes a look at the evolution of the American city, from the initially small farming village, to the eventually hectic, congested metropolis, to the future planned suburban community.
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Changing Landscapes
1964 · ★ 7.4
A sophisticated and beautifully constructed account of landscape change in and around Paris in the early 1960s. The film raises complex issues about the meaning and experience of modern landscapes and the enigmatic characteristics of features such as canals, pylons and deserted factories. Rohmer also explores the role of landscape within different traditions of modern art and design and refers to specific architects, artists and engineers.
More info →Borinage - das verratene Land
1989
Documentary about the industrial region of Borinage in Belgium
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Beyond Fordlandia
2017
An environmental account of Henry Ford’s Amazon experience decades after its failure. The story addressed by the film begins in 1927, when the Ford Motor Company attempted to establish rubber plantations on the Tapajós River, a primary tributary of the Amazon. This film addresses the recent transition from failed rubber to successful soybean cultivation for export, and its implication for land usage.
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