This film is part of Free
Project Spear
At Rotherham a revolution in steelmaking has human consequences.
Overview
Technological upgrades often have human consequences. Certainly they did at Rotherham and nearby Templeborough, where this fine and unusual film was made. At Steel, Peech and Tozer, part of the United Steel Companies empire, the game-changing replacement of 21 old-fashioned open hearths by six electric arc furnaces represented a big engineering challenge - and an even bigger industrial relations one.
Project Spear, shot at intervals over a five-year period, is the story of how those challenges were met. It incorporates the comments of both managers and union officials into its summary of the delicate consultation process. These rather televisual sequences are interwoven with more purely cinematic ones which, in the best tradition of steel filmmaking, capture both the proficiency and the sheer spectacle of the industry's production processes, old and new. The film naturally reflects the managerial point of view of its sponsor, a somewhat self-congratulatory United Steel. But all the same it's a mature, reasonably balanced and impressively lucid account of a complex and sensitive project - and a true melding of industrial with social documentary.
Related
Pattern for Progress Pattern for Progress
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1948 42 mins Location: Ebbw Vale/Glyn Ebwy
The drama and spectacle of steelmaking at Ebbw Vale.
Steel Windows Steel Windows
Documentary 1970 7 mins
A window on to a futuristic vision of concrete, glass and steel.
Consett Steel Consett Steel
Industry sponsored film 1967 26 mins Location: Consett
Sparks fly in an industrial film that captures the exciting visual drama of steel production in Consett.
The First Four Years The First Four Years
Industry sponsored film 1951 42 mins Silent
An industrial epic plays out in steelmaking South Wales.
End of a Line End of a Line
1975 13 mins Silent Location: Swindon
After a glorious history, Baldwin's iron and steelworks in Swindon, Staffordshire, faces closure.
Design in Steel Design in Steel
Documentary 1973 24 mins
Artists, designers and engineers extol the virtues of steel.
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.
New Perspectives: Oldboy New Perspectives: Oldboy
Short documentary 2024 4 mins
Discover why Dan George of Northumbria University believes everyone should experience Oldboy at least once.
New Perspectives: Wings of Desire New Perspectives: Wings of Desire
Short documentary 2024 4 mins
Trixie Parkin-Christie of Northumbria University offers fresh insight into why Wings of Desire remains essential viewing.