Barbara Kopple’s Academy Award–winning documentary, 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 against strikebreakers, local police, and company thugs over thirteen months. This film serves as a heartbreaking record of a community fighting for survival against a corporation focused solely on the bottom line, all set to a haunting soundtrack featuring legendary country and bluegrass artists.

Key Features/Benefits

• Academy Award–winning documentary by director Barbara Kopple.
• Documents a thirteen-month coal miners’ strike in Kentucky.
• Features a haunting soundtrack with music by Hazel Dickens, Merle Travis, David Morris, Sarah Ogan Gunning, and Florence Reece.
• Includes a Director-Approved Blu-ray Special Edition with new 4K digital restoration.
• Region B format, intended for UK viewing.

Criterion Collection Special Edition Content

• New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Barbara Kopple, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack.
• Audio commentary by Kopple and editor Nancy Baker.
• Making-of documentary featuring interviews with Kopple, crew members, and strike participants.
• Outtakes from the film.
• Interview with bluegrass singer-songwriter Hazel Dickens.
• Interview with filmmaker John Sayles.
• Panel discussion from the 2005 Sundance Film Festival featuring Kopple and critic Roger Ebert.
• Trailer.
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
• Essays by film critic Michael Atkinson and musician and writer Jon Weisberger.
• Cover art by Eric Skillman.

Specifications

• Format: Blu-ray (Region B)
• Number of Items: 2
• Run Time: 1 hour and 43 minutes
• Language: English
• Director: Barbara Kopple
• Actors: Carl Horn, John L. Lewis, Logan Patterson, Norman Yarborough
• Release Date: September 7, 2026

Experience this essential piece of documentary filmmaking with superior picture and sound quality, enhanced by extensive bonus materials approved by the director.