Between nationalisation and the 1980s, the nationalised mining company commissioned numerous films from independent producers as well as from their in-house communications department with the aim of promoting the group both internally and externally to potential clients, as well as for staff training purposes. There are various types of film, mounted and rushes, black and white and colour, silent and with sound, which can be classified into three major themes: mining, group films and social welfare projects. Moreover, we can distinguish three major periods in terms of films produced by the Nord-Pas de Calais nationalised mining company :

1946-1951 : the era of the coal battle, when providing information was the key aim. Films were used to show reconstruction, the reorganisation of the nationalised mining company, the need for large production volumes, and to facilitate mass recruitment. The image of the miner is depicted as sacred, such as in “Les Gueules Noires” (the pitmen).

1951 to 1958 : the nationalised mining company promotes a more humane image of work in the mine. The nationalised mining company commissioned films promoting social welfare institutions and those dispensing safety training to prevent accidents. These images were charged with dismantling the industry’s sombre image by bringing to the fore the modernisation of mining infrastructure and technological advances, in particular in hewing equipment.

1958-1975 : this is described as the period of “defending coal”. Films had to depict coal mining as a modern industry with a healthy future. The mining industry had in fact been given new impetus and the usage and forms of coal had diversified extensively. All of this was promoted by the wide variety of films produced: prestigious productions, filmed in CinemaScope and awareness campaigns, produced as cartoons