Rail workers battle winter’s worst in this kinetic, Oscar®-nominated classic

Name: Rail workers battle winter’s worst in this kinetic, Oscar®-nominated classic | Aeon Videos
Uploaded: 2017-01-09
Duration: 8 min
Description: Rail workers battle winter’s worst in this kinetic, Oscar®-nominated classic

Nominated for an Academy Award in 1965, the late British director Geoffrey Jones’s Snow uses a kinetic visual style and percussive, locomotive-inspired music to reimagine how British Railways workers coped with the ‘Big Freeze’ of 1962-63, one of the UK’s coldest winters on record. Expertly edited to highlight the contrast between the comforts of train passengers and the tireless labour of the workmen, Jones’s film illustrates the tremendous efforts necessary to keep civilisation moving in the face of nature’s enormous indifference.

Director: Geoffrey Jones

Producer: Edgar Anstey

9 January 2017

Post

A video camera reflected in sunglasses with a scenic view of water and hills in the background.

videoGlobal history

After the fall of the Iron Curtain, a young couple discovers a strange, newly open world

18 minutes

Vintage photo of people erecting tall structures in a tropical setting with palm trees and a thatched building.

videoArt

A young Rockefeller collects art on a fateful journey to New Guinea

7 minutes

Aerial photo of workers harvesting oranges, loading crates onto a tractor in an orchard.

videoDemography and migration

In California’s farmlands, immigrant workers share their stories of toil and hope

17 minutes

Photo of a woman in a floral headscarf with a man in the background against a rural autumn landscape under a clear sky.

videoHome

Life moves slowly in a Romanian mountain village, shaped by care and the seasons

13 minutes

A painting of a mythical forest scene with centaurs, satyrs and wild animals in a chaotic setting.

videoNature and landscape

‘A culture is no better than its woods’ – what our trees reveal about us, by W H Auden

5 minutes

Fisheye photo of a man in a suit leaning close to camera in a laundrette, with two people talking in the background.

videoGender

A catchy tune explains the world’s ‘isms’ – according to your mum doing the laundry

5 minutes

A young girl with curly hair applies makeup in front of a ring-lit mirror, her reflection visible.

videoTechnology and the self

The commodified childhood – scenes from two sisters’ lives in the creator economy

14 minutes

A person in a hard hat and coveralls surrounded by thick white smoke, obscuring most of the view.

videoFairness and equality

There’s a dirty side to clean energy in the metal-rich mountains of South Africa

10 minutes

Photo of a diner interior seen through a window with patrons seated at tables and a counter under hanging lights.

videoFood and drink

The passage of time is a peculiar thing in a 24-hour diner

14 minutes