iwwggrandson

Joe Hill (1971)

117m; Sweden

Director: Bo Widerberg

Synopsis: A 1971 biopic about Swedish-American labor activist Joe Hill, born Joel Emanuel Hägglund in Gävle, Sweden. It was directed by Bo Widerberg and depicts Hill’s involvement with the Industrial Workers of the World(IWW) union, and his trial for murder during which he defends himself. It won the Jury Prize at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.^[1]

The film has been unavailable commercially for many years, but a digitally remastered version is currently in preparation. It is due for release later in 2015.

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Posted by iwwggrandson on January 24, 2012 in Drama

Tags: Mining

Balseros (2002)

24 Jan

120m; Spain

Director: Carles Bosch, Josep Maria Domènech

Synopsis: The story of Cuban refugees who risked their lives in homemade rafts to reach the United States, and what life is like for those who succeed.

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Posted by iwwggrandson on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Immigrants/Immigration

Bamako (2006)

24 Jan

115m; France

Director: Abderrahmane Sissako

Synopsis (IMDB): Melé is a bar singer, her husband Chaka is out of work and the couple is on the verge of breaking up… In the courtyard of the house they share with other families, a trial court has been set up. African civil society spokesmen have taken proceedings against the World Bank and the IMF whom they blame for Africa’s woes.

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Posted by iwwggrandson on January 24, 2012 in Drama

Bananas (2009)

24 Jan

80m; Sweden

Director: Fredrik Gertten

Synopsis: The human cost of banana cultivation is revealed in this documentary chronicling the case of Nicaraguan laborers, represented by L.A. attorney Juan Dominguez, against the companies who they believe poisoned them with pesticides.

Contact: International Sales: Peter Jager, peter@autlookfilms.com Phone: +43 720 34 69 34 film@wgfilm.com David Magdael & Associates – Los Angeles Winston Emano, wemano@tcdm-associates.com David Magdael, dmagdael@tcdm-associates.com Phone: +1 213 624 7827 http://www.bananasthemovie.com/

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Posted by iwwggrandson on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Farm & Food, Safety & Health

Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)

24 Jan

96m

Director: John Hancock

Synopsis: The story of the friendship between a star pitcher, wise to the world, and a half-wit catcher, as they cope with the catcher’s terminal illness through a baseball season.

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Posted by iwwggrandson on January 24, 2012 in Drama, Sports

Barack Obama walks a day in the shoes of SEIU member Pauline Beck (2008)

24 Jan

3:48; U.S.

Synopsis: SEIU pioneered an initiative in which all political candidates seeking SEIU endorsement is required to spend a day with an SEIU member at work and at home with their families.During the 2008 election, now President Barack Obama walked a day in the shoes of Pauline Beck, an SEIU member and homecare provider from California.

Contact: Jennifer Wynter jennifer-wynter.philis@seiu.org

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Posted by iwwggrandson on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Service Workers, Women, Working Class

Barbarians at the Gate (1993)

24 Jan

107m

Director: Glenn Jordan

Broadcast Date: March 23, 1993

Network: HBO

Cast: James Garner, Jonathan Pryce

Synopsis (New York Times): Based on the exhaustive, and sometimes exhausting, best seller by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, “Barbarians at the Gate” chronicles the multi-billion-dollar battle in 1988 for RJR Nabisco, which at the time was working feverishly on developing a “smokeless cigarette.” The machinations were incredibly complex, requiring bankers galore and backfield lawyers for the lawyers on the front lines. Condensing the story into a movie running less than two hours, Larry Gelbart, the creator of television’s “M*A*S*H,” has eliminated the players in the middle layers to focus almost entirely on the top-level principals, most notably F. Ross Johnson, chairman of RJR Nabisco, and Henry Kravis, the master of leveraged buyouts at the Wall Street concern Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company.

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Posted by iwwggrandson on January 24, 2012 in Drama, White Collar

Barravento (1962)

24 Jan

78m; Brazil

Director: Glauber Rocha

Synopsis: Relation between strike and proleterian life on the Brazilian coast. Depiction of striking fishermen, “black magic rituals,” and emotional relationships.

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Posted by iwwggrandson on January 24, 2012 in Drama, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts, Working Class