Monday 3rd March 2025 marks the 40th year since the end of the 1984/5 Miners’ Strike. Four decades on, it’s an important time to reflect on the rich history of mining in the UK and the effect on the people, places, and identity of those involved.

To commemorate ‘The Longest Year’ and the legacy of one of the largest industrial disputes of the 20th century, Showroom Cinema presents a programme of Q&As, panel discussions, VR experiences and two special event screenings of Brassed Off.

The season opens with a big screen return of Strike: An Uncivil War, Audience Award winner at DocFest 2024, on Saturday 1 March. Director Dan Gordon joins for a Q&A session with filmmaker and academic Dr Ryan Bramley of The University of Sheffield after the film.

On Monday 3 March, the day that the strike ended, the Yorkshire and North East Film Archives present their new film In the Veins, a short film that uses over a century of archive footage to shine a light onto the face of the mining heritage of Yorkshire and the North East of England. A tale of hardship and hope, division and defiance, perseverance and pride; the film is not a history lesson, it’s an emotional journey that digs deep into the heart of a community built on coal.

In the Veins plays alongside a rare theatrical screening of 1985 Yorkshire Television broadcast, The Longest Year, and will be followed by a panel discussion of archivists and academics.

On Saturday 15 March, Showroom hosts two special events celebrating the classic film Brassed Off, an afternoon screening with live performance by Unite the Union Brass Band, and an evening gala featuring a Q&A with cast and crew from the film itself.

The season closes on Thursday 27 March with Harlan County, USA, as Showroom’s Philosophy strand explores an American example of worker solidarity and collective action in the face of strike suppression.

Tickets for The Longest Year: The Miner’s Strike at 40 are now on sale at: /minersstrike40