In 2010 the world became witness to the tragedy of 33 miners trapped ½ mile below the earth’s surface in Chile.

Already a dangerous job, this group of men were the victims of circumstance in a situation that was untenable.

A cell phone camera bore witness.

One of the men had video from his cell phone to record for the world, the actual situation.

This wasn’t the rescue part.

It was the connection to the world above ground.

Premiering on Nat Geo, Disney+, and Hulu on Sept. 25.

Knowing these miners survived the crushing closure of the underground gave hope to the families and the potential rescuers via the video.

This documentary is told 3 ways: from the government who activated to action, then and now, family members, the emergency rescue engineers who solved the insurmountable odds, and perhaps most impactful, the miners themselves in current day.

It’s series of episodes, which play out like any scripted drama, with the highs, lows and a conclusion. Except it’s all real.

All of the critical maneuvers by the teams up top reaching the miners below are detailed and engaging as any cliffhanger would be.

We had a chance to speak with the directors James Parris and Chloe Campbell about the details, shown in quotes:

“Initially, the miners were only accessed from the surface by an incredibly slim borehole of four to five inches, which massively limited what could get sent down. The only way to get stuff down to the miners, remarkably, was through this long tube called they called it a paloma, like a pigeon, like a carrier pigeon, and they would slip this down the borehole. So, the only things that could be given to the miners were things that could be folded or broken up or fitted into this long tube. Even just to give the miners sufficient water to get through a day took something like two thirds of the tube journeys that were possible that day. As the rescue went on, there were a larger amount of logistics were able to get down to them because they drilled more boreholes down to the miners. They got telecommunications. They had fresh air pumped down into the mine, and they also began to communicate to help the miners do some excavation work within the mine to prep for the coming of the actual large bore rescue drills down there, but they were always limited by what they were able to send down these small tubes, which was which were a massive a massive limitation, and it meant that the miners’ lives were always at risk because they were only ever precarious through that whole period of time. You couldn’t send them whatever you wanted to send them. Although near the end the shaft was finally big enough”

The true stories of the survivors are what may impact you the most. They are interviewed with a memory jog to that time.

From the directors:

“Possible most emotional story is that of the story of Juan Sanchez, the father of one of the miners who went into this event with quite a difficult relationship with his son and found it’s one of the most touching threads through the series, found an extraordinary depth of love and reconciliation with his with his son through this traumatic event. It was a transformative event for him and for them as a family. I hope stories like that can stand for the larger group of people who, of course, have all of their own individual journeys through this.”

Sanchez Family. (credit: National Geographic/Dan Di Martino)

Remembering the time spent underground as the catalyst from the first connection to receiving lifesaving food and medical supplies, all through failed attempts bring them up, to the final success can be felt in their words, and emotional re-connection to that experience.

Ariel Ticona during his interview. (credit: National Geographic/Mike Simpson)

The fragility of life, albeit in a dangerous profession, blossoms into a celebration of being here and alive.

The filmmakers have crafted the connective tissue of this true story, into a compelling storyline with the best outcome.

In our lifetimes we have witnessed more than a few news stories of people trapped in untenable physical situations. We all have followed and engaged in the hopes for the best outcomes.

Family and friends looking at miners poster. (credit: Cristián Leighton)

Workers surrounding the Fenix capsule at night. (credit: Christián Leighton)

This may be one of the most thorough representations of an accident that caught the world’s attention, and with all of the details, step by step, to its conclusion.

Lowering the rescue pod from the surface. (credit: Cristián Leighton)

The memories came from not only the miners, but also the government representation who did not give up, and the brilliant engineers who came up with the solution for rescue. Jeff Hart was the key engineer who designed and operated the drill that came to rescue the miners.

Jeff Hart. (credit: National Geographic)

How did the rescue efforts affect the bureaucrat’s political life before and after?

“Emotionally, not just for the politicians involved, but all of the rescuers also. Even though they weren’t victims of this particular disaster, they became hugely emotionally transformed by the event. So, I think not only the president, who since the event has passed, but also Lawrence Goldborn, who takes part in the series, and all of the rescuers who take part in the series, show on camera the extent to which the event changed them. This was not a run-of-the-mill everyday rescue effort. They were changed, just as the miners were changed.”

Laurence Goldborne holds a note while President Piñera gives a speech. (credit: Miguel Soffia)

What kind of cell phone was the initial video made on?

“You have to imagine a Y 2k mid 2000s camera flip phone. Again, again, the miners didn’t go down there knowing what would happen, and in fact, when you’re down underneath in the mine, you can’t call anyone. So, there was only one cell phone among the miners that day that was able to record, and yeah, it had a little antenna, and it was silver, and it was small, and we probably all remember them from 20 years ago.

Yeah, it feels strange to us now. We’ve all got a smartphone in our pocket, and while we feel like incredibly lucky, like unbelievably lucky, that we have we have this footage off this one phone, it does feel quite weird.  Out of 33 men, there was one phone down there that they could take pictures of on film, but that was the case.”

What kind of video gear was sent into the mine for the rescue?

“like an old school cam, you know, flip screen camcorder, and there’s you know there’s wonderful footage that we looked at of those being sent down, and then you know the memory card comes out, and all the people on the surface are looking at this footage for the first time.  They weren’t specialized technology. A lot of this technology, not just the cameras,…. even the telecoms equipment that was sent there, was basically normal run of the mill tech that was repurposed for this mission because this was something that people had never faced before. So no, no one was designing special mining cameras or anything to send down to the miners.”

The end of each episode will make you go to the next, and at the end, like all good true life docs, there will be a “where are they now” type of wrap-up.

Satisfying, yes, but you are still marked with the experience these miners endured.