Wednesday, May 1: The Norwegian May 1st Labour Film Art Fest offers a virtual labor filmfest, 24 hours of recommendations – and links – to online labour films and trailers. Many are in Norwegian but some are in English.
Contact: morten@arbeiderfilm.no
00:00: Fine Ladies and Factory Girls (Fine damer og fabrikkpiker)
7:36: Women from different parts of society developed new interests as Norway was
industrialized. While upper class women demanded education and participation,
labour class women wanted to establish unions for better working conditions.
01:00: Norway in the 1930’s (Norge i de harde tretti-åra)
5:25; 1962: Short film that tells about depression in Norway in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Christopher Hornsrud forms the first Labour government, but the government is forced to leave office after just four weeks.
02:00: May 1st (Opp, alle jordens bundne treller)
1:11: Short footage from May 1st parade in the early sixties.
02:00: Union Office at Museum (Fagforeningskontor på museum)
2:03; 2012: As paper factory Peterson went bankrupt the local museum took care of valuable historical material. Like vital effects from the local union office.
03:00: The 1930’s: Labour in government (Arbeiderstyre i tretti-åra)
8:00; 1962: This short film shows Johan Nygaardsvold, Labour Prime Minister, giving a speech on May 1. The film also includes an interview with Labour politician Trygve Lie, who was later to become the first General Secretary of the United Nations.
04:00: The International Day of Workers (Arbeidernes internasjonale kampdag)
4:38; 1974: Historical working class photography from early twentieth century Norway.
05:00: The First Strike of Norwegian Nurses (Norges første sykepleierstreik)
2:30; 1972
Despite negative reactions in the media the first ever strike of Norwegian nurses (1972) received massive support from the population.
06:00: The Cultural History of Workers (Arbeidernes kulturhistorie)
4:24; 1981: Legendary scholar Arne Kokkvold talks about the cultural history of the labour movement in Norway.
06:00: The book about Einar Gerhardsen (Boka om Einar Gerhardsen)
2:58; 1967: In 1967 journalist and author Rolf Gerhardsen wrote a book about his brother and former Norwegian prime minister Einar Gerhardsen.
07:00: The Matchstick Workers (Fyrstikkarbeiderskene)
13:55; 1973: This is the story about one of the most famous strikes in the history of the Norwegian labour movement. About 400 female workers started their own union at The Bryn and Grønvold Matchstick Factory in Oslo in 1889.
08:00: Martin Tranmæl – The Legendary Speaker (Folketaleren Martin Tranmæl)
4:32; 1962: The former labour leader talks about historical fights and achievements in the Norwegian Labour movement.
09:00: Stitched Together: Students, and the Movement for Alta Gracia
28:43; 2012: A documentary film examining the Alta Gracia factory in the Dominican Republic, a new college apparel company attempting to challenge the sweatshop model of production by creating a factory with living wages, good working conditions, and an independent trade union.
10:00: Can’t Take No More
29:03: Studs Terkel narrates this fast-paced history of occupational health and safety in the U.S. from the Industrial Revolution to the 1970s, which OSHA produced in 1979. Rare archival footage and photos illustrate the problems behind dramatic tragedies as well as the daily dangers that put workers at risk for long-term health problems.
11:00: Not this time – the story of the Simon Jones memorial campaign
23:54: The Simon Jones Memorial Campaign was set up after casual dock worker Simon Jones was decapitated in an industrial accident on April 24, 1998. He was working for Euromin on the south coast of England. The campaign argued that failure to train Simon for a dangerous job was tantamount to murder and that the pursuit of profit was put ahead of life. Simon died on his first day at work and was known to have no experience.
12:00: Digital Handcraft. China`s Global Factory for Computers
28:00; 2008: This film takes a look at the flipside of globalised computer production, which is incongruous with the “clean” image the industry usually displays. By interviewing both activists and workers, the film investigates the current situation as well as future possibilities for improving their situation. Furthermore, the film looks at issues surrounding the illegal shipping of computer scrap parts from Germany to developing countries.
13:00: Blue Elephants
14:00: This short documentary shows the dire labour conditions of migrant workers in the Malaysian electronics industry. Men and women from Nepal, Indonesia and other countries come as contract workers to work for well known brand companies.
14:00: Fingers to the Bone: Child Farmworkers in the United States
5:42: The film meets five of the more than 400,000 to 500,000 children between the ages of 5 and 16 who labor in fields and factories to feed us, lacking the protections offered by the Fair Labor Standards Act that all other American children enjoy.
15:00: Where ships and workers go to die
9:26
16:00: The Janitor
7:16: This short documentary follows the daily struggles of two janitors at a North American university. The film takes a critical look at the communication, or lack of communication, that happens between janitors and those that use the facilities they clean. Shot at Capilano University, in North Vancouver, BC, Canada.
17:00: Ralph Fasanella: A Painter of Working Class People
3:41: Whether it’s a strike or factory floor, former union organizer Ralph Fasanella devoted his life to painting working men and women. The man who is considered America’s best self taught artist, would eventually complete hundreds of pieces of work dedicated to jobs and justice.
17:00: The Banners of the Labour Movement (Arbeiderbevegelsens faner)
7:47; 1981: Flags and banners are well known cultural expressions of the Norwegian Labour movement. In this historical interview with former AOF leader Gunnar Gregersen we can learn more about this rich tradition.
18:00: Mouseland
7:43: The Story of Mouseland was a story told first by Clarence Gillis, and later and most famously by Tommy Douglas. The system was flawed in offering voters a false dilemma: the choice of two parties, neither of which represented their interests. The mice voted in black cats, which represented the Progressive Conservative Party, and then they found out how hard life was. Then they voted in the white cats, which symbolized the Liberal Party. The story goes on, and a mouse gets an idea that mice should run their government, not the cats. This mouse was accused of being a Bolshevik, and imprisoned. However, the speech concludes by saying you can lock up a mouse or a person, but you cannot lock up an idea.
18:00: Phone Booth
1:00; 2009: It’s a lonely job, but someone’s got to do it — time to get organized maybe…
19:00: The Brotherhood of Man
10:36; 1946: An animated short film sponsored by the United Autoworkers which breaks down various racist ideas of difference among peoples. In some ways the presentation will seem awkward to a modern audience, but considering when it was made and the intended audience (rank-and-file white workers), it is an impressive document.
19:00: How Football Can Fight Islamophobia (trailer)
2:39; 2008: This is a trailer for an anti-racist film from the Show Racism the Red Card Campaign in England.
20:00: Norma Rae (trailer)
2:49; 1979: Norma Rae is a 1979 American drama film that tells the story of a factory worker from a small town in North Carolina, who becomes involved in the labor union activities at the textile factory where she works. The film stars Sally Field in the titular role
21:00: Bread and Roses (trailer)
1:48; 2000: Maya is a quick-witted young woman who comes over the Mexican border without papers and makes her way to the LA home of her older sister Rosa. Rosa gets Maya a job as a janitor: a non-union janitorial service has the contract, the foul-mouthed supervisor can fire workers on a whim, and the service-workers’ union has assigned organizer Sam Shapiro to bring its “justice for janitors” campaign to the building.
22:00: Ken Loach documentary (trailer)
27:08; 2012
23:00: Brassed Off
2:28; 1996: Laid-off miners in 90′s England. A small Yorkshire mining town is threatened with being shut down and the only hope for the town’s men is to enter their Grimley Colliery Brass Band into a national competition.
24:00: North Country
2:31; 2005: North Country is a 2005 American drama film directed by Niki Caro. The screenplay by Michael Seitzman was inspired by the 2002 book Class Action: The Story of Lois Jenson and the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law by Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler, which chronicled the case of Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Company.
THE LABOR FILM DATABASE 