One of the Hollywood Ten

This is the story of Herbert Biberman, a film director who fell victim to the McCarthy anti-Communist witch-hunt of the 1950s, and fought back in the only way he could - as a film maker. Biberman was humiliated, blacklisted and imprisoned for refusing to grass on his friends. After prison and while remaining on a Hollywood blacklist, Biberman directed "Salt of the Earth" - a movie about New Mexico zinc miners and their struggle to improve working conditions. Using local people to re-enact their experiences, Biberman once more found himself fighting Hollywood and US politics as they connived to smash the film production. For Biberman and the local community, the film comes to represent freedom. "Salt of the Earth", completed against the odds, is one of only a hundred films preserved by The Library of Congress for its cultural and historical importance.