Matewan

Matewan () is a 1987 American independent film drama written and directed by John Sayles, and starring Chris Cooper (in his film debut), James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell and Will Oldham, with David Strathairn, Kevin Tighe and Gordon Clapp in supporting roles. The film dramatizes the events of the 1920 Battle of Matewan, a coal miners' strike in Matewan, a small town in the hills of West Virginia. Matewan was a critical success but a box-office failure, grossing under $2 million on an estimated $4 million budget. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, and received a Criterion Collection re-release in 2019. In 2023, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".