Metro Council

Fury Below (1936)

58m; U.S.

Director: Harry L. Fraser

Cast: Russell Gleason, Maxine Doyle and LeRoy Mason

Synopsis (IMDB): Jim Cole, heir to a mining operation, takes over the mine, which is suffering from unexplained low production, and is facing a strike by the miners. Jim will soon loose the mine if production doesn’t increase and the sabotage continues. Mary Norsen, office-secretary, accidentally learns of a plot by Fred Johnson to wreck the mine and force Cole to sell his coal-mine. She and her brother, Joe, join Cole in his fight to stop Johnson

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Posted by Metro Council on February 21, 2012 in Drama, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts

Tags: Mining

Gaijin: A Brazilian Odyssey (1980)

21 Feb

112m

Director: Tizuka Yamasaki

Cast: Kyoko Tsukamoto, Antônio Fagundes and Jiro Kawarazaki

Synopsis (IMDB): Based on fact, this is the story of the struggles of Japanese immigrants who traveled to and settled in Brazil looking for a better life.

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Posted by Metro Council on February 21, 2012 in Drama, Immigrants/Immigration

Grounding: The Last Days of Swissair (2006)

21 Feb

120m; Switzerland

Director: Michael Steiner

Cast: Hanspeter Müller, Gilles Tschudi and László I. Kish

Synopsis (IMDB): The demise of airline Swissair in 2001 was a huge blow to Switzerland’s economy and to the country’s morale. It was a sad day for Swiss history when the airline’s fleet was grounded on 2 October 2001. “Grounding” is set during the last days of the doomed airline, and tells the story of manager Mario A. Corti’s unhappy fate, the last, unlucky CEO at the traditional airline company, as well as of all those nameless people who lost almost everything in the maelstrom of Swissair’s downfall: their job, home and their belief in Switzerland

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Posted by Metro Council on February 21, 2012 in Drama, Transportation, Working Class

Garbage Dreams (2009)

21 Feb

79m

Director: Mai Iskander

Synopsis (Documentary.org): Garbage Dreams follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world’s largest garbage village, on the outskirts of Cairo. It is the home to 60,000 Zaballeen–Arabic for “garbage people.” Far ahead of any modern “Green” initiatives, the Zaballeen survive by recycling 80 percent of the garbage they collect. When their community is suddenly faced with the globalization of its trade, each of the teenage boys is forced to make choices that will impact his future and the survival of his community.

Website: http://www.garbagedreams.com/

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Posted by Metro Council on February 21, 2012 in Documentary, Service Workers, Working Class

The Garment Jungle (1957)

21 Feb

88m; U.S.

Director: Vincent Sherman

Cast: Lee J. Cobb, Kerwin Mathews and Gia Scala

Synopsis: Sweatshop workers.

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Posted by Metro Council on February 21, 2012 in Drama, Women, Working Class

Generosity (2011)

21 Feb

119m; U.S.

Director: Ray Kelly

Cast: David Maddalena, Mark David Nelson and Melinda Smart

Synopsis (IMDB): Generosity is an in depth look at the issue of homelessness. Through five main characters, the film explores five very different perspectives and asks the viewer to “just how close is anyone to homelessness?”

Website: http://www.generositythefilm.com/

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Posted by Metro Council on February 21, 2012 in Drama

General Line (1929) (aka Old and New)

21 Feb

directed by Sergei Eisenstein
121m

The General Line was begun in 1927 as a celebration of the collectivization of agriculture, as championed by old-line Bolshevik Leon Trotsky. Hoping to reach a wide audience, the director forsook his usual practice of emphasizing groups by concentrating on a single rural heroine. Eisenstein briefly abandoned this project to film October: Ten Days That Shook the World, in honour of the 10th anniversary of the Revolution. By the time he was able to return to this film, the Party’s attitudes had changed and Trotsky had fallen from grace. As a result, the film was hastily re-edited and sent out in 1929 under a new title,The Old and the New. In later years, archivists restored The General Line to an approximation of Eisenstein’s original concept. Much of the director’s montage-like imagery—such as using simple props to trace the progress from the agrarian customs of the 19th-century to the more mechanized procedures of the 20th—was common to both versions of the film. (Wikipedia)
The General Line is available for free download at the Internet Archive

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Posted by Metro Council on February 21, 2012 in Available Online, Documentary, Farm & Food

Tags: Food Service Industry

Germinal (1993)

21 Feb

166m; France

Director: Claude Berri

Cast: Renaud, Gérard Depardieu and Miou-Miou

Synopsis: Gerard Depardieu plays the role of Toussaint Maheu from the film version of Emile Zola’s landmark book by the same name. He attempts to organize the coal miners to resist exploitation by the owners. The novel was one of the first to properly, using the finest art and understanding, to show the lives of working men and women. The film version was not shown widely, perhaps due to its theme and its length. John Sayles film “Matewan” is not based on this novel/film, but has many similarities. There were earlier versions including a British mini-series in 1970, and films in 1963, and 1913.

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Posted by Metro Council on February 21, 2012 in Drama, Organizing, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts

Tags: Mining