Lena Dobrowolska

Coalostalgia explores the past, present and future scenarios for the Silesia region as it begins to transition away from coal-based energy production and industrial activity towards renewable energy generation and regenerative economy. The film's narrative centres around the hopes, dreams, concerns and worries of the miners who still work deep underground in Silesia’s numerous active coal mines. The film combines stories collected among miners, mining engineers, local clean air activists, and local policymakers with speculative thinking considering the shape and modes of transition away from coal and the future after the end of coal. 

The narrative of the film is told by a miner-avatar who narrates the history of Silesia’s coal or rather speaks with and to coal, about its entanglement within culture, economy, spirituality and environment, from the Carboniferous epoch, through the industrial revolution to the present climate crisis. The film pays particular attention to the environmentalism of the mining communities, informed by the perils of the work that miners undertake to extract coal and the role that mining communities should play in the decarbonisation of the region that ensures climate justice. 

The film was commissioned by the Silesian Museum as part of  Performatywny Magazyn: Energy, Technology, Chances for Survival.

The film is shown as a cinema screening or a  looped single-channel video projection accompanied by a research publication available here.