AllMovie

The realities of blue-color labor in the African-American community are chronicled in this short documentary from filmmaker Kevin Jerome Everson. Lead portrays a day in the lives of the employees of a coal mine, capturing the physical exertion, the dirt, the darkness, and the unrelenting noise. Amidst the long hours and hard work, Everson finds a hero among his characters. Lead was one of three short films by Everson (including The Citizens and The Simple Antennae) that was screened in a special program at the 2009 AFI Fest, a film festival coordinated by the American Film Institute.