High Row (1973)
The coalminers at this small drift mine, high in the Pennines, near Alston in Cumbria, collaborated with Amber in this documentary reconstruction of their working lives.
Having rejected an earlier script by Amber – ‘If it was like that, we wouldn’t work here’ – A script was written with them. In order to have control over the events when filming in the cramped conditions inside the mine, Amber proposed to rent the mine for a week, and paid the men to act out the script that reconstructed their working day. High Row was the first of Amber’s films where members of the production team participated in the work process portrayed in the film.
Amber Films, 33 mins, 1973
Watch an excerpt
