Valleys film traces journey from coalfields to a green future

Jibreel Meddah

A powerful new documentary exploring the South Wales Valleys’ transition from an industrial past to a greener future will tour communities across the region early this year.

The Coal Beneath Our Feet, The Wind Above Our Heads will be screened at a series of iconic venues between 23 January and 10 March 2026, bringing together history, culture and debate in the heart of the communities whose stories it tells.

The film arrives at a moment of reflection. 2025 marked 40 years since the end of the 1984–85 miners’ strike and 30 years since the reopening of Tower Colliery as the UK’s first worker-owned coal mine. One anniversary marked the closing of an era; the other symbolised a defiant belief that different futures were possible.

Directed by filmmaker Jeremy Clancy, who grew up in the Derbyshire coalfields, the documentary connects those moments to present-day questions about work, energy and justice. Clancy’s own experience of seeing extraction and its impacts on communities shapes a film that looks forward as much as it looks back.

Former Cynon Valley MP Beth Winter was also involved in the making of the documentary, contributing her insights into the Valleys’ communities and the challenges they face.

Co-produced with local people from across generations in the Valleys, the documentary captures the energy, frustration and pride of young people determined to help shape what comes next.

It explores the idea of a green industrial revolution rooted in the Valleys – one that brings jobs, resources and sustainable power back to communities that have long carried the costs of industrial change.

The film has already been described as “more than a documentary – a call to action”.

Each screening on the tour will be followed by a Q&A with contributors to the film and an open community discussion about the themes it raises and the practical steps that could follow.

The first free screening will take place at Llanhilleth Miners’ Institute in Abertillery on Friday 23 January, from 7pm to 9pm, with a special appearance by the Abertillery Orpheus Male Choir.

Support for the tour has come from a range of organisations including UNISON Cymru, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), the Communication Workers Union, St Elvan’s Coalfields Regeneration Trust – Wales, and Community Energy Wales. Representatives from several of these groups are expected to attend events during the tour.

Full details of tour dates, venues and times are available online, with tickets bookable via www.ticketsource.co.uk/EFJGKJF.