A left revolutionary films people trying to make gold (10)

I believe the answer is:

alchemists

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'films people trying to make gold' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'a left revolutionary' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'revolutionary' becomes 'chemists' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'a'+'l'+'chemists'='ALCHEMISTS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for alchemists that I've seen is " Early scientists".)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.

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