Matewan
Filmed in the coal country of West Virginia, “Matewan” celebrates labor organizing in the context of a 1920s work stoppage. Union organizer, Joe Kenehan, a scab named “Few Clothes” Johnson and a sympathetic mayor and police chief heroically fight the power represented by a coal company and Matewan’s vested interests so that justice and workers’ rights need not take a back seat to squalid working conditions, exploitation and the bottom line.
Genre: Drama
Director: John Sayles
Actors: Bob Gunton, Chris Cooper, David Strathairn, Gordon Clapp, James Earl Jones, John Sayles, Ken Jenkins, Kevin Tighe, Mary McDonnell, Will Oldham