Documentary | THE LABOR FILM DATABASE

We Were There

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

Posted by iwwggrandson on June 13, 2012 in Available Online, Documentary, Labor History, Streaming Online (Youtube, Vimeo), Women

Synopsis: 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.

Contact: Josephine Anderson josephineanderson@gmail.com http://www.youtube.com/user/joeyphine#p/a/u/0/yJuaMmjSJjM

Leave a comment

Posted by iwwggrandson on June 13, 2012 in Available Online, Documentary, Education, Service Workers, Streaming Online (Youtube, Vimeo)

USW Local 6500 Xmas Party ’09 (2009)

13 Jun

3:50m; U.S.

Director: Stuart Cryer

Synopsis: Steelworkers local 6500 has been on strike against Vale-INCO for five months, so as the holiday season approaches, it’s time for their kids to have a bit of a celebration.

Contact: Stuart Cryer terraV@cyberbeach.net

Leave a comment

Posted by iwwggrandson on June 13, 2012 in Available Online, Children, Documentary, Streaming Online (Youtube, Vimeo), Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts

The Hungry Miles (1954)

06 Jun

49m; Australia

Director: Jack Levy, Keith Gow

Synopsis: The Hungry Miles is a documentary made by the Waterside Workers Federation Film Unit. It documents industrial relations on the waterfront since the 1930s and includes dramatised scenes of working conditions during the Depression. It also recounts the background to the Federal Governments 1954 amendments to the Stevedoring Industry Act, which proposed to give shipowners the right to directly recruit wharf labour and bypass the union; shows workers demonstrating; contrasts the gap between industry and workers in the division of profits; and evokes the spirit of the Eureka Stockade in portraying the solidarity amongst waterside workers. It includes voice-over narration by Leonard Teale and employs an orchestral score.

Contact: View here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k16WogNM1yE

Leave a comment

Posted by iwwggrandson on June 6, 2012 in Available Online, Collective Bargaining, Documentary, Streaming Online (Youtube, Vimeo)

Tags: Boating and Shipping, Government

This Is The Subway (2006)

18 May

30m; Argentina

Director: Ojo Obrero

Synopsis: Buenos Aires Subway workers win fight for 6 hour day

Leave a comment

Posted by iwwggrandson on May 18, 2012 in Documentary, Organizing

The Take (2004)

17 May

87m; Argentina/Canada

Director: Avi Lewis

Cast: Naomi Klein, Matilde Adorno, Michel Camadessus and Bill Clinton

Synopsis: Argentina underwent an economic collapse in 2001, leaving behind bankrupties and massive unemployment. A few years later, in Buenos Aires, 30 unemployed auto-parts workers walk into an idle factory, roll out sleeping mats and refuse to leave. They’re part of a daring movement of workers trying to recover and re-create their jobs. With The Take, outspoken journalist Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein, author of No Logo, have crafted a radical economic manifesto for the 21st century.

Contact: http://frif.com/new2004/ake.html http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=51735

Leave a comment

Posted by iwwggrandson on May 17, 2012 in Cities-Urban, Communism/Socialism, Documentary, Global Economy, Manufacturing, Organizing

Tags: Government

Scrappers (2010)

07 May

Set within Chicago’s labyrinth of alleyways, Scrappers is a cinema verite portrait of Otis and Oscar, two scrap metal scavengers searching for a living with brains, brawn and battered pickup trucks. The film shows how globalization, the 2008 financial crisis, crackdowns on undocumented immigrants and widespread scrap metal theft affect these men and their families. (Written by Ben Kolak on IMDB)

Leave a comment

Posted by Metro Council on May 7, 2012 in Documentary, Global Economy, Immigrants/Immigration, Self-Employed/Freelance

Seacoal (1985)

07 May

82m;

Synopsis (IMDB): A visually powerful drama exploring the raw capitalism of seacoaling, rooted in a documentary engagement with the community of seacoalers on Lynemouth Beach in Northumberland.

Leave a comment

Posted by Metro Council on May 7, 2012 in Documentary, Women, Working Class

Tags: Boating and Shipping, Mining