They Came for Coal Documentary


They came for coal



A Historical Journey of Growing Up in the Colorado Coal Mining Camps.



Film Facts



Production Date



June 2020 - January 2022



Run Time



41 minutes, 47 seconds



Film Language



English



Production Company


From Mists of Time

www.frommistsoftime.org


Domenic Incitti is the son of an Italian immigrant Guiseppe, who at eighteen years old, left his own family back in Gastro Dei Volsci and came alone to America in 1913. In the late 1800’s earthquakes,

soil erosion, high taxes and an unstable government prompted many Italians to leave their country and immigrate to the United States. Polish born Ted Langowski’s grandfather came from Poznan, Poland. They came in record numbers to work the railroads, mines and farms. They found the foothills of Southern Colorado a peaceful beauty, and went to work in the Sopris coal camp. Their coal mining labor helped fuel America’s industrial revolution, and there was thousands settling in the beautiful area of the coal camps. These two sons’ of European immigrants share with the film makers fascinating lives growing up in the same coal camp in southern Colorado. They take these men

back to their coal camps, one last time to the place and space of their most formidable and

exciting years. Their story is rich, showing the audience a way of life that is simple and

good yet rarely talked about any more.



Life stories shared by
domenic incitti and ted langowski



Domenic Incitti



Domenic Incitti is he son of an Italian immigrant. His father Guiseppe, left his own family in Gastro Dei Volsci and came alone to America in 1913, seeking a better life. He found the foothills of Southern Colorado a peaceful beauty, beckoning to him and found work in the Sopris coal camp.



Ted Langowski



Ted Langowski is a third generation coal miner. His Grandfather, Joseph emigrated from Poznan, Poland in the late 1800s. Ted's father, Charles Langowski worked at the mine in Sopris as well as several of the mines in surrounding towns, owned by the CF&I. They lived in Segundo until 1937, then moved to Sopris where Ted started High School as a freshman. That is where Ted and Dom met.



Meet the Production Team



Patty Sue Butler



Productor / Director



Nate Lateer



Camera Director



Daniela Aguilar &
Matt Alvarado



Camera Directors



Anthony Marantz



Film Narrator



Jon Ciula



Film Editor



Sean Hennessy



Music Composer



When you first settle into your seat, you’ll think you’re watching a documentary about early coal mining in Southern Colorado - which you are. Maybe something educational, that describes how people lived and faced the hardships that came along with this dangerous profession…which it is. But this film, They Came for Coal, does more than describe life in the coal mine. It dares to show the individuals, the beating hearts, of the coal camps in Trinidad, Colorado. Follow young Guiseppe as he leaves his small town in Italy behind, and settles into his new life on the Southern Colorado prairie. Here, he finds love and family, while relentlessly pursuing the American dream.



Michele Strilich, Grumpy Cat Film



It doesn’t hurt that this movie was shot in Colorado and the scenery is windswept and beautiful. It demonstrates how much of Colorado is still rural and easily accessible from the densely populated Front Range of the state. And this movie isn’t about the colorful but distant past of gold and silver mining that created the glamorous ski towns like Aspen or Telluride. This is about the coal industry and how it created communities in rural Colorado. Towns that are mostly gone and left only a few traces in some of the most sparsely populated counties. However, uniquely, some of the former residents and coal miners are still alive and able to tell their stories. What keeps the story from just being about the local and mostly forgotten history is that Patti Butler Spiers tells the story from the inside-out. It’s not just the story of these men, it’s our story. Loved this movie!



Jeff Hodges, Legal Consultant



“They Came for Coal” is an exquisitely crafted narrative that takes the audience into the world of the miners who were integral to the Colorado industry.
In its characteristic riveting narrative style, the producers pull us into an entire era through the eyes individuals who lived it. We are swept up in the story and the history because we fall in love with the storytellers who make it come to life for us.



Christi-Marie Butler, VP of Children’s Hospital Foundation



Beautiful Colorado scenery highlights the rugged life of coal mining families and the lifelong friendships generated in a turn of the
century coal mining town. Brilliantly framed stories by first generation immigrants make this film as endearing as it is unique.



Jim Wood, Radio DJ



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