The Battle of Orgreave
Synopsis
In 1984 the National Union of Mineworkers went on strike. The dispute lasted for over a year and was the most bitterly fought since the general strike of 1926, marking a turning point in the struggle between the government and the trade union movement. The Orgreave coking plant was the site of one of the miners' strike's most violent confrontations with the police. It began in a field near the plant and culminated in a cavalry charge through the village of Orgreave.
Artist Jeremy Deller’s work 'The Battle of Orgreave', staged seventeen years later, was a spectacular re-enactment of what happened on that day. It was orchestrated by Howard Giles, a historical re-enactment expert and the former director of English Heritage’s event programme. More than 800 people participated in the re-enactment, many of them former miners, and a few former policemen, reliving the events from 1984 that they themselves took part in. Other participants were drawn from battle re-enactment societies across England.
Jeremy Deller's reenactment of the 1984 clash between striking miners and police at Orgreave in South Yorkshire on 17 June 2001 was filmed by Mike Figgis for Artangel Media.
Details
- Year
- 2001
- Type of film
- Features
- Running Time
- 60 mins
- Director
- Mike Figgis
- Producer
- Sophie Gardiner
- Executive Producer
- Michael Morris
- Editor
- Nick Fenton
- Sound
- Re-recording Mixer: Nigel Heath
Genre
Production status
Complete
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Last updated 4th November 2016
