18 and 27m; U.S.
Synopsis: A Tale of “O” video explores the consequences of being different. It focuses on a group of people in which some are “the many”, who are referred to as the X’s, and some are ”the few,” the O’s. Look at the factors that create O’s and X’s in groups and the impact. The animated A Tale of “O” video clarifies and explores the personal and societal dynamics of being different.
Contact: http://trainerstoolchest.com/show_product.php?idnum=356
93m
Director: Yann Arthus-Bertran
Synopsis: The compelling and captivating film works partly because of the high-resolution cinematography used to present our high resolution global environment, documenting the wide time span of terrestrial evolution through to the present. Clearly explained is the urgent situation that we must resolve or our planet will suffer more deep catastrophic damages from climate and environmental disruption.
The style of the film makes it quite educational for audiences of all ages. There’s a vast number of local and global issues that must be resolved. This film shows us the interconnected dependency of these issues. Expect to see this film used in elementary school presentations all the way through universities, neighborhood gatherings, movie theaters, corporate presentations and more. The gravity and urgency of the global environmental quality of life crisis affects us all. So will false “solutions” along with the dismissal of ancient, proven ways of surviving and thriving.
In overview of the images near the end, where the “solutions” are presented, the solutions presented are technological and industrial in nature, reconstructing the power sources with wind, solar, geothermal, and wave energy, clean coal, and more jobs.
103m; Spain/Mexico/France
Director: Icíar Bollaín
Cast: Gael García Bernal, Luis Tosar and Karra Elejalde
Synopsis: A Spanish film crew comes to Cochabamba, Bolivia in 1999 to make a film about Christopher Columbus. The intent is to do a revisionist account portraying Columbus not as a hero, but as a conqueror. The film crew is not well financed and looking to cut costs, which includes to indigenous Bolivians being hired to star in the movie. At the same time, a mounting wave of protests is occurring, with one of the film extras serving as a major leader, over the privatization of Cochabamba’s water supply. The film crew becomes entangled in the protests in an ever more complex and deep ways. A superb film about the intersections and limits of art and politics.
Synopsis: THE HARVEST will be told from adolescents’ perspectives as we meet 5 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. We follow them as they follow the 2009 harvest, working throughout the spring, summer and early fall until they return to school in early November, struggle to catch up, only to be forced to leave school again the following April.
Contact: Shine Global 973 746-7257 646 442-1712 http://www.shineglobal.org/?page_id=19 Susan MacLaury, Executive Director: susan@shineglobal.org Rebecca Katz, Executive Assistant: rebecca@shineglobal.org Ruth Sarlin, Fundraising: ruth@shineglobal.org
23m; U.S.
Director: National Labor Committee
Synopsis: Investigation of very young working women in the Free Trade Zone in Honduras and consequences on their lives due to exploitation (below subsistence wages, lack of access to education, health hazards, forced contraception, denied freedom, harassment, etc.). A National Labor Committee (NLC) representative speaks about workers’ actual wages, the cost of production (for ex., 12 cents for a 20$ Gap shirt), the US tax support for free trade zones, and the pressure on companies to produce in free trade zones and the effect on American workers. The NLC representative looks at the wider economic impact of paying low wages (trading with people earning wages below the subsistence level is impossible). Detailed interviews with workers. Heated discussion with management as the representative gets caught asking workers questions without management’s permission.
Contact: Available online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XtYhfcEZ9A
60m; U.S.
Synopsis: The eleventh CBS Report since 1993 provides an intimate look at the changing US economy and the middle class it is affecting, interviewing people whose stories represent the human aspects of profound economic change, from the entrepreneurs and specialists who became successful to the workers holding on to ideals that may no longer apply.
Contact: Available in 6 parts on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfJcpO-pCdc&feature=plcp
40m; U.S.
Director: G.W. Bitzer
Synopsis (Wikipedia): A collection of 21 short films, averaging about three minutes each, taken of various Westinghouse manufacturing plants from April 13, 1904 to May 16, 1904. They were made by G. W. Bitzer of the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, were shown at the Westinghouse Auditorium at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, and may have been made for that purpose. At least 29 films were shot. The films are now part of the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
Contact: All available on Youtube via the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westinghouse_Works,_1904
5m; U.S.
Synopsis: Theme song by Bev Grant, written for a multi-media show by the same name, about women’s labor history.
Contact: available online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjnyk06MZRY
THE LABOR FILM DATABASE 