Barbara Kopple

Harlan County USA

Harlan County USA

Barbara Kopple’s Academy Award–winning Harlan County USA unflinchingly documents a grueling coal miners’ strike in a small Kentucky town. With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners’ sometimes violent struggles with strikebreakers, local police, and company thugs. Featuring a haunting soundtrack—with legendary country and bluegrass artists Hazel Dickens, Merle Travis, Sarah Gunning, and Florence Reece—the film is a heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1976
  • 103 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.78:1
  • English
  • Spine #334

Special Features

  • New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director-producer Barbara Kopple
  • Audio commentary by Kopple and editor Nancy Baker
  • The Making of “Harlan County, USA,” a new documentary featuring interviews with Kopple, crew members and strike participants featured in the film
  • New video interview with legendary bluegrass singer-songwriter Hazel Dickens
  • Never-before-seen outtakes from the film
  • New video interview with director John Sayles
  • A panel discussion from the 2005 Sundance Film Festival featuring Kopple and Roger Ebert
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • New essays by film scholar Paul Arthur and music journalist Jon Weisberger

    New cover by Eric Skillman

Purchase Options

Special Features

  • New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director-producer Barbara Kopple
  • Audio commentary by Kopple and editor Nancy Baker
  • The Making of “Harlan County, USA,” a new documentary featuring interviews with Kopple, crew members and strike participants featured in the film
  • New video interview with legendary bluegrass singer-songwriter Hazel Dickens
  • Never-before-seen outtakes from the film
  • New video interview with director John Sayles
  • A panel discussion from the 2005 Sundance Film Festival featuring Kopple and Roger Ebert
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • New essays by film scholar Paul Arthur and music journalist Jon Weisberger

    New cover by Eric Skillman
Harlan County USA
Credits
Director
Barbara Kopple
Producer
Barbara Kopple
Editing
Nancy Baker
Associate director
Anne Lewis
Principal cinematographer
Hart Perry
Cinematography
Kevin Keating
Sound
Barbara Kopple

Current

Lee Grant’s Top 10
Lee Grant’s Top 10

The Oscar- and Emmy-winning actor and director gets personal with her selections, highlighting the work of friends, former collaborators, and filmmakers she admires.

Daisy von Scherler Mayer’s Top 10
Daisy von Scherler Mayer’s Top 10

The director of Party Girl celebrates two favorite dance films; a classic noir by her favorite director, Billy Wilder; and a pair of comedies written by Edwin Justus Mayer, her grandfather.

Rodarte’s Top 10
Rodarte’s Top 10

Kate and Laura Mulleavy founded Rodarte in Los Angeles, California, in 2005. Rodarte is known for its artistic mixture of high couture, California influences, and explorations into other art forms.

Illeana Douglas’s Top 10
Illeana Douglas’s Top 10

Actor, writer, and director Illeana Douglas has starred in Cape Fear (1991), To Die For (1995), Grace of My Heart (1996), Picture Perfect (1997), and Ghost World (2001).

Paul Schneider’s Top 10
Paul Schneider’s Top 10

Actor, writer, and director Paul Schneider has long been a devotee of the Criterion Collection.

Susie Bright’s Top 10
Susie Bright’s Top 10

Writer, teacher, and performer Susie Bright is a trailblazer in the academic study of pornography and eroticism in mainstream cinema.