Lockout
Filmmaker Jason Van Genderen explores one of the darkest chapters in Australian industrial history with this documentary centering on the ways in which an undeclared war on industrial labor in 1929 gradually evolved into something far more sinister and destructive. It was known as "The Great Australian Lockout:" an event that would redefine the political and industrial landscape of Australia while simultaneously challenging the rights of every citizen on the continent. As the labor movement in the Northern Coalfields in New South Wales began to grow powerful and the workers demanded higher pay, the powers that be resorted to brutal tactics in order to maintain the status quo. When 10,000 miners were locked out of the Hunter Valley coal mines, most folks thought it couldn't get any worse. Unfortunately they couldn't have been more wrong, because as the conflict raged an industry was crippled, a government was overpowered, and an entire community was besieged. more..
Director: Jason van Genderen