11m; U.S.
Director: Jon Lewis
Synopsis: Farm Workers’ struggle in the US.
Category Archives: Genre
Not This Time – The Story Of The Simon Jones Memorial Campaign (
24m; U.K.
Available on Vimeo
Film about the death of Simon Jones and the campaign that grew out if it. The film looks at the events surrounding Simon’s death, the formation of the memorial campaign, the campaign’s actions, including the occupation of the Department of Trade and Industry during George Galloway’s parliamentary debate on Simon’s death and the closure of Southwark Bridge outside the Health and Safety Executive and interviews with Simon’s family, friends and supporters.
The Simon Jones Memorial Campaign was set up after casual dock worker Simon Jones was decapitated in an industrial accident on April 24, 1998. He was working for Euromin on the south coast of England. The campaign argued that failure to train Simon for a dangerous job was tantamount to murder and that the pursuit of profit was put ahead of life. Simon died on his first day at work and was known to have no experience.
The campaign, supported by anti-casualisation campaigners from the trade unions, initially took its fight to Euromin and the employment agency who offered him the work, Personnel Selection. It has been characterised by direct action: six months after Simon’s death there was an occupation of his workplace and frequent pickets of the employment agency have taken place. When theHealth and Safety Executive refused to take up the issue, protestors blockaded the road for three hours. The incident was taken up by Members of Parliament and a minister acknowledged that the government plans for protecting workers were “not enough”.
The Crown Prosecution Service decision to not prosecute Euromin was overturned on March 23, 2000 by a judicial review, the first time a judicial review has ever insisted on prosecuting corporate manslaughter. Euromin were ultimately fined £50,000 for breach of safety regulations. The manager was acquitted of manslaughter by a majority decision of the jury.
The anti-casualisation element of the campaign persists with the slogan “casualisation kills”, the purple stickers can be seen around various casual employers or agencies. The campaigners do workshops on their methods and support others who have been affected by deaths in the workplace.
Number One (2009)
86m; Morocco
Director: Zakia Tahiri
Cast: Aziz Saâdallah, Nezha Rahile and Chantal Ladesou
Synopsis: A Moroccan comedy about a grumpy, cruel factory manager whose outlook on life changes when his wife slips him a potion that renders him sympathetic toward everyone he meets.
Contact: Cinexport T: +33 1 45 62 49 45 E: cinexport@wanadoo.fr
Nursing in Britain (2008)
7m; U.K.
Synopsis: Directed and produced by Mat Haywood and Lihee Avidan for Channel 4TV Two of four stories about migrant health care workers in England, the films show a brief look at how migrant workers contribute to the labour force in the NHS and the connection between working abroad and the life they have left behind. Produced with the assistance of Public Services International.
OUVRIERES DU MONDE(Working Women of the World) [2001]
53m; Belguim
Director: Marie-France Collard
Synopsis: Women and labor.
Oblivion (2008)
93m;
Director: Heddy Honigman
Synopsis: Focuses on Peru’s capital city of Lima, revealing its startling contrasts of wealth and poverty, and how many of its poorest citizens have survived decades of economic crisis, terrorism and government violence, denial of workers’ rights, and political corruption.
Occupational Health Films
Synopsis: List of films that relate to occupational hazards: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/blog/nsb092310_movies.html
October (Ten Days that Shook the World) [1928]
103m; U.S.S.R.
Director: Sergei M. Eisenstein
Cast: Boris Livanov, Vladimir Popov and Vasili Nikandrov
Synopsis (IMDB): In documentary style, events in Petrograd are re-enacted from the end of the monarchy in February of 1917 to the end of the provisional government and the decrees of peace and of land in November of that year. Lenin returns in April. In July, counter-revolutionaries put down a spontaneous revolt, and Lenin’s arrest is ordered. By late October, the Bolsheviks are ready to strike: ten days will shake the world. While the Mensheviks vacillate, an advance guard infiltrates the palace. Anatov-Oveyenko leads the attack and signs the proclamation dissolving the provisional government.
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