“Take this it’s yours… An anthem for a lost cause..”
The third installment of the ‘Manic Street Preachers – Rewind the Film’ music series was for the song ‘Anthem for a Lost Cause’. The emotional story follows the young lovers from the ‘Show me the Wonder’ music video, which won a Q music Video award this week. Time has passed; the pair (Meryl & Darren) have married but find themselves struggling through the 1984 miners strike. It all becomes too much for the man of the house, who leaves without a trace, leaving Meryl to fend for herself. A story that was all too common in the mining towns at the time.
Meryl is forced to sell all of her possessions to keep the oncoming bills and vicious debt collectors at bay. Instead of wallowing in a pitiful heap at all she’s lost, Meryl gathers inspiration from the ‘South Wales Women’s Support Group’ whoshe sees on television.
The tale of the women’s support groups that formed during the strike is such an amazing story, filled with the most courageous women. On collecting the archive footage for this video we were fortunate to meet two groups of women who filmed these inspirational groups.
The first of which, ‘The South Wales Womans Film Group’ learnt their skills from a Chapter Film Workshop in Cardiff in 1983. As a collective they wanted to give women a voice in front of and behind the camera. They soon began documenting the struggles of women in the South Wales valleys during the 1984 miners strike. Their films ‘Something Else in the House’ and ‘Mam’ offer amazing insight and both make for interesting viewing.
The second group we came across is called ‘The Swansea Women’s History Group’. Founded in 1981 by Ursula Masson, Gail Allen and Jen Wilson, the group researched and documented the history of women in South Wales. In 1984 they realised the need to cover contemporary issues and filmed the 1984 miners strike from the point of view of the South Wales Women’s’ Support Group. Their film, entitled ‘Smiling and Splendid Women’ is fantastic and documents the miners strike from a completely different angle.
The video shoot took place over two days in the vivid hills of the Rhondda Valleys and the timeless market in Pontypridd. Once again we teamed up with director Kieran Evans, DOP Luke Jacobs and Tori Lyons who brilliantly continued her role as Meryl.
Special thanks to costume designer Sarah Jane Perez, make up artist Sadie Thorne, set designer Carla-Jayne Wattley and everyone else who helped. We’re immensely proud of the video and everybody who helped make it. Once again it shows the wealth of film making talent that South Wales possesses.