Westray

On May 9, 1992. the Westray mine in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, exploded - instantly killing all 26 men working underground. Mining coal in Pictou County is notoriously dangerous. It has claimed the lives of 650 men in the last 100 years, the same number of local people who died fighting in both world wars. But Westray was supposed to be different: a high-tech operation that would finally make coal mining safe. Westray is an innovative documentary that re-creates some of the Westray disaster's most harrowing moments, it focuses on the lives of three widows and three miners whose lives were torn apart when the methane and coal dust ignited deep underground. It is a compelling portrait of working men, who felt they had no option but to stay on at Westray. And wives, who heard the rumours, saw their men sometimes bloodied from accidents, and stood by them, hoping it would all turn out all right. At the same time this is a film that reaches far beyond Westray. A film about working people everywhere - whose lives are often entrusted to companies that violate the most fundamental rules of safety and decency in the name of profit.