Harlan County USA is a 1976 documentary directed by Barbara Kopple, filmed over several years during a bitter 1973 coal miners strike against the Eastover Mining Company and Duke Power in Harlan County, Kentucky. Shot in a direct, embedded style alongside striking miners and their families, the film documents violent confrontations on the picket line, the killing of a striker, and the unions eventual contract victory. Harlan County USA won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and is widely regarded as a landmark of American labor and direct-cinema documentary filmmaking.
Facts
Classification
Original Language AwardAcademy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film 1 Release Year Connections
Sources
1. Harlan County USA (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundationlead paragraph, opening sentence naming the release year
Harlan County USA (variously written with and without a comma) is a 1976 American documentary film covering the "Brookside Strike", a 1973 effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the Duke Power Company-owned Eastover Coal Company ...
lead paragraph, opening sentence naming the country of production
Harlan County USA (variously written with and without a comma) is a 1976 American documentary film covering the "Brookside Strike", a 1973 effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the Duke Power Company-owned Eastover Coal Company ...
Harlan County USA, Description, original language
Harlan County USA won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and is widely regarded as a landmark of American labor and direct-cinema documentary filmmaking.
Wikipedia category, checked 2026-09-27
Category:Best Documentary Feature Academy Award winners
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