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Category Archives: 2026 Shortlist

Films under consideration for the 2026 DC Labor FilmFest

CLIKA

2026; R; 1h 22m

A small town musician pushes to carve out a place for himself in the new wave of Mexican-American music after a clip of him performing one of his songs goes viral.

Director: Michael Greene
Writers: Michael Greene, Sean McBride, Ski-ter Jones
Stars: Jay Dee, Daniel ‘Doknow’ Lopez, Uziel Pantoja Delgado

 

THE CLEANERS

Original title: Im Schatten der Netzwelt
2018; 1h 28m

A look at the shadowy underworld of the Internet where questionable content is removed. The documentary details the work experience of content moderators who have to decide which content needs to be removed by employing a moderation system for social media websites.[1]

The film won seven awards and was nominated for nine more. The Cleaners shines a light on a corner of the internet that is meant to be hidden from the average user. The film contrasts the poverty of those who work in content moderation and those in the technology profiting off of their labor.[2] Run Time: 88 minutes[2]

Directors: Hans Block, Moritz Riesewieck
Writers: Hans Block, Moritz Riesewieck, Georg Tschurtschenthaler
Stars: Mark Zuckerberg, Donald Trump, Nicole Wong

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cleaners_(2018_film)

 

AMERICAN SWEATSHOP

2025; Not Rated; 1h 34m

A look at the toll of social media through the eyes of Daisy Moriarty, who while dealing with a chaotic personal life, finds herself sucked into the underbelly of the internet.

Director: Uta Briesewitz
Writer: Matthew Nemeth
Stars: Lili Reinhart, Daniela Melchior, Jeremy Ang Jones

 

MAX BISHOP

2021; 16+

An out of work hitman finds employment as a janitor at another local elementary school.

Director: Jack Beranek
Writer: Jack Beranek

Stars : Chris Charais, Iris Seifert, Katie Troske

https://www.maxbishopmovie.com/

 

MAINTENANCE ARTIST

2025; 1h 30m

NYC’s first Sanitation Department artist-in-residence, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, blends art with waste management in Maintenance Artist, exploring her groundbreaking public art career.

Director: Toby Perl Freilich
Writers: Anne Alvergue; Toby Perl Freilich
Stars: Mierle Ukeles

https://www.maintenanceartist.com/about

 

ORWELL 2 +2=5

2025; R; 1h 59m

An investigation into the life, work, and enduring influence of the writer George Orwell, connecting his ideas to the contemporary world.

Director: Raoul Peck
Writer: Raoul Peck
Stars: Damian Lewis, George Orwell, U Win Khine

 

ANIMAL FARM

2025; PG; 1h 36m
An animal revolution is corrupted from within, fulfilling Orwell’s warning about communism.

Director: Andy Serkis
Writers: George Orwell; Nicholas Stoller
Stars: Gaten Matarazzo, Seth Rogen, Glenn Close
Opening May 1 2026

 

TRAIN DREAMS

2025; PG-13; 1h 42m

Based on Denis Johnson’s beloved novella, Train Dreams is the moving portrait of Robert Grainier, a logger and railroad worker who leads a life of unexpected depth and beauty in the rapidly-changing America of the early 20th Century.

Director: Clint Bentley
Writers: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Denis Johnson
Stars: Joel Edgerton, Clifton Collins Jr., Felicity Jones

NYTimes: ‘Train Dreams’ Review: Life, Understood in Reverse

 

Rolling Papers (Pikad Paberid)

2024; 1h 38m
Director: Meel Paliale

Writers: Meel PalialeUrmet Piiling Stars: Mihkel Kuusk; Karl Birnbaum; Edgar Vunsh

A portrait of European youth as they navigate life in their twenties, grappling with uncertainty and searching for purpose.

 

The Souffler

2025; 1h 18m
DIR Gaston Solnicki

Writers: Julia Niemann, Guido Segal, Gastón Solnicki Stars: Stéphanie Argerich, Camille Clair, Willem Dafoe

Lucius Glantz, a veteran hotel manager in Vienna, fights to save his beloved establishment from a scheming realtor’s plan to demolish it, leading to a clash of wills that even affects the hotel’s renowned soufflé recipe.