Workers’ lives on the silver screen are the focus of this year’s third annual Global Labor Film Festival.
In true global solidarity, London viewers will watch the struggle for civil rights in the United States in “Selma,” while Washington viewers will see Welsh miners find solidarity with gay and lesbian supporters in “Pride.” And in New York they’
ll see Irish workers support South Africans struggling against apartheid in “Blood Fruit.” (see below for the complete list of participating film festivals and films)
This year’s Global Labor Film Festival brings together labor film festivals in ten cities around the world – Santa Fe (a brand new labor film festival!) to Israel and London to California – who each screen a labor-themed film of their choice during the month of May, chosen because May 1 — International Workers’ Day — is a national holiday in more than 80 countries and celebrated unofficially in many other countries.
The Global Labor Film Festival showcases the growing worldwide scope of nearly three dozen film festivals focused on films about work, workers and their issues and was first conceived at the second annual International Conference of Labor Film Festival Organizers at the 2012 DC Labor FilmFest, both of which are organized by the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO.
Anyone doing labor-themed screenings in May – or interested in doing so in 2015 — is welcome to join the Global Labor Film Festival; email streetheat@dclabor.org
2015 Global Labor Film Festival participants
Barre, Vermont: May 9: Fasanella & Brother Outsider; Old Socialist Labor Party Hall
Bath, England: May 6: Still Ragged: 100 Years of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists; Tolpuddle Radical Film Festival
Haifa, Israel: May 2, The Spirit Of ’45; Haifa Labor Film Festival
London, England: May 10: El Caracazo; London Socialist Film Coop
London, England: date TBA, Selma; London Labour Film Festival
New York City, New York: May 22: Blood Fruit; Workers Unite Film Festival
San Diego, CA: May 22: The Hand That Feeds; Workers Film Festival
Santa Fe, NM: May 1: Cesar Chavez; Santa Fe Labor Film Festival (1st annual)
Washington, DC: May 1: Pride; DC Labor FilmFest/DC LaborFest
Watsonville, CA: May 1: Cesar’s Last Fast; Reel Work Labor Film Festival
THE LABOR FILM DATABASE 