Abba filmmaker angered by striking miners portrayal

What bash 1 of the best-selling popular groups of each clip - Abba - and Welsh miners person successful common?

Both person been captured connected movie by Swedish manager Kjell-Åke Andersson.

Three years aft directing 1 of Abba’s last euphony videos, The Day Before You Came, helium travelled to southbound Wales to marque a documentary astir the miners' strike.

The film, Breaking Point, is simply a snapshot of beingness successful Oakdale, Caerphilly county, successful the wintertime of 1985 - a period earlier the onslaught ended.

"For maine it was astir showing the miners’ solidarity alternatively of Thatcher’s propaganda," said Kjell-Åke.

The 75-year-old filmmaker returned to the southbound Wales valleys to conscionable immoderate of the families he’d not seen for astir 40 years.

Ray and Kath Francis, who unrecorded successful the aforesaid location successful Ystrad Mynach wherever their 4 children grew up, are 1 of the focal points of the documentary.

Between 1984-85, Ray was among 22,000 different Welsh miners who were connected strike.

His wife, Kath, joined the galore different women who supported the miners by mounting up nutrient postulation and organisation groups.

“When I met Kath and Ray again, it was precise affectional for maine - and successful the aforesaid location 40 years connected – it was truthful emotional," Kjell-Åke said.

The nationalist miners' onslaught of the 1980s caught the attraction of the world's media.

But Kjell-Åke didn't consciousness the concern of the miners was being portrayed reasonably by planetary media backmost location successful Sweden.

He'd already experienced the effect of the miners' onslaught connected families successful Bargoed during 1974, wherever he'd spent galore months arsenic a photographer.

"In 1984, I was aggravated due to the fact that the newspapers and the TV was describing the onslaught from Mrs Thatcher’s constituent of presumption and I hated that, truthful I said I request to spell determination and marque a documentary due to the fact that this is not the close presumption of the strike," helium said.

Kjell-Åke said helium wanted to amusement the solidarity of miners successful the southbound Wales valleys and however the enactment of the women was a important portion of their year-long strike.

The acquisition of the onslaught transformed galore women's lives, including Kath Francis, who went to survey for a grade astatine assemblage and became a societal worker.

Her husband, Ray, said the acquisition of joining miners connected picket lines and organising nutrient collections for the miners made her much confident.

"It was wonderful. We got truly caught up successful the strike," helium said.

"I would instrumentality the children to school. I would larn however to cook. We would stock retired the chores.

"I volition accidental this overmuch and a batch of radical volition accidental the same, if it wasn’t for the women, we wouldn’t person lasted that long."

Kjell-Åke said helium rapidly came to realise however women's roles were changing.

"I deliberation the onslaught had a bully effect connected the women who got a accidental to act, not conscionable arsenic a pistillate oregon a wife, but successful immoderate ways, they were astatine the aforesaid level arsenic the men. Their presumption was successful the beforehand and not successful the background," helium said.

Kath and a fewer different women are seen knocking connected doors successful their section country asking for donations of wealth oregon nutrient for the miners.

There’s besides a heated speech successful a gathering betwixt the miners’ wives and the caput of the nutrient committee.

Margaret Matthews tells him: "One [miner] told me, I’m not going retired successful this, it’s raining. We spell retired successful it and it’s their bloody fight..."

Four decades aboriginal and her recollection of the incidental is vague, but Margaret said she inactive remembers feeling aggravated astir the situation.

"The lodge caput rang my hubby and asked him if he’d unopen maine up – to travel and person a connection [with] maine due to the fact that helium said I was upsetting the men.

"I was quiet. I inactive am, but that conscionable got me. We were warring for our lives," she said.

Poverty and despair had accrued during the people of the strike, which led to galore miners crossed Britain returning to the pits.

On 3 March 1985, miners returned to enactment connected the acquisition of the National Union of Mineworkers.

Breaking Point highlighted the solidarity of galore mining communities successful southbound Wales during what was to go the last fewer weeks of the strike.

Kjell-Åke said that helium did not consciousness the onslaught would extremity soon portion helium was filming the documentary.

"I didn’t consciousness a breaking point," helium said.

Shortly aft helium returned to Sweden to edit the movie helium learned that it had ended.

"I had a abbreviated clip to marque the movie and we conscionable concentrated connected 1 household and immoderate different radical and the national meetings," helium added.

"Maybe if I had done much interviews with different radical possibly I’d person seen that, but this was my acquisition of it."