'A pirrera (La miniera)
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An itinerary that takes us to the sulphur mines in the heart of Sicily; a historical reconstruction of the miners’ lives, their social conditions, and their battle for human rights. ‘A Pirrera is an attempt to portray their lives through interviews with former workers who belonged to central Sicily’s largest working class in the 1960s. The documentary aims at rescuing the historical memory of a significant episode in the island’s history. An episode that has faded from the Sicilians’ mind, leading to abandonment and devastation of the old mines, despite the grief and toil of the thousands of workers who worked and died in them for over two centuries.
A long, hard look into the history of my Sicily, an obligatory remembrance of the sweat and toil of thousands of miners who worked under intolerable conditions of abuse and exploitation when human life was worth so little. A necessary act of respect for all those who spent most of their lives down in the mines and for those who died there.
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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Creative Europe Media Program. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.