The Riot

In 1907 the men working the Sulitjelma mines in northern Norway rose up. The mining company set the wages and ran the shop as well; the workers handed the money they were paid straight back to the same company. The film tells that winter and how the strike started. At its centre is a young worker and the events that push him into organising. Nils Gaup's Norwegian film starts from real events; the Sulitjelma uprising is counted among the turning points of the labour movement in the country. The telling builds no heroism: the organising is slow, fearful and full of splits. Snow, darkness and the pit carry the film's physical weight. It runs a hundred and seven minutes.