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Category Archives: Genre

The Penthouse of Heaven (May Day Chicago) [2006]

27m; U.S.

Director:  Larry Duncan

Synopsis: Illuminates the struggle for justice by workers today and the role of organized labor and many trade unionists in supporting this historic mobilization in the place where May Day started.

Contact: http://www.laborbeat.org

 

Peoes (Metal Workers) [2004]

85m; Brazil

Director: Eduardo Coutinho

Synopsis: 1979 Brazilian Metal Workers Strike.

 

The People Speak

113m; U.S.

Director: Tony Sacco

Cast: Marisa Tomei, Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Matt Damon, Viggo Mortensen, Kerry Washington, Danny Glover, David Strathairn & more

Synopsis: A look at America’s struggles with war, class, race and women’s rights, with actors and actresses reading excerpts of letters, diaries, and speeches from major figures appearing in Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States.”

Contact: http://thepeoplespeak.com Chris Moore: cmoore@goldiemail.com

 

People at Work: How Jobs Change (1976)

12m; U.S.

Director: Coronet Instructional Media

Synopsis: Changes in jobs and job skill requirements as mechanization pervades the workplace

 
 

People of Cumberland (1937)

18m; U.S.

Director: Sidney Meyers & Jay Leyda

Synopsis: A combination documentary and reenacted drama of the struggle of poor whites in the Cumberland mountains building unions and fighting for their rights with the help of the Highlander Folk School

 

Perfumed Nightmare (1977)

93m; Philippines

Director: Kidlat Tahimik 

Cast: Kidlat Tahimik, Mang Fely and Dolores Santamaria

Synopsis: This brilliant semi-autobiographical fable tells the story of a young Filipino born in 1942 (during the Occupation), his awakening to, and reaction against, American cultural colonialism. In his small village, Kidlat dreams of Cape Canaveral and listens to the Voice of America; he’s even the president of his village’s Werner Von Braun fan club. – http://www.lesblank.com/more/perfume.html

 

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Arts/Culture, Drama

 

The Phantom of the Operator (2004)

A film by Caroline Martel

Canada, 2004, 66 minutes, Color/BW, DVD, French, Subtitled
Order No. W05869
This wry and delightful found-footage film reveals a little-known chapter in labor history: the story of female telephone operators’ central place in the development of global communications. With an eye for the quirky and humorous, Caroline Martel assembles a dazzling array of clips – more than one hundred remarkable, rarely seen industrial, advertising and scientific management films produced in North America between 1903 and 1989 by Bell and Western Electric – and transforms them into a dreamlike montage documentary.

As the first agents of globalization, this invisible army of women offered a way for companies to feminize and glamorize what was a highly stressful, underpaid and difficult job. Not merely “Voices with a Smile,” telephone operators were shooting stars in a universe of infinite progress, test pilots for new management systems, and the face of shrewd public relations campaigns. As the work of operators has been eclipsed by the advent of automated systems, this artful piece of labor history also offers an insightful comment on women’s work, industrialization and communications technology. Refreshing and hilarious, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERATOR provides a wry yet ethereal portrait of human society in the technocratic age.

available from Women Make Movies
 

Philips-Radio (1931) (aka The Symphonie Industrielle)

Director: Joris Ivens
36m

Country: Netherlands

An industrial film which shows the operations inside the Philips Radio plant: In a mêlée of activity, glassblowers make delicate glass bulbs. Machinery assists the bulb manufacture. A virtuoso glassblower begins a more complex tube used in radio broadcasting; it is then turned, fired, and sculpted. Conveyors carry partially completed units. Workers perform their various specific assembly-line tasks. Cases are manufactured and machined, wire harnesses are assembled, loudspeakers are produced. As radios near completion, they are run through a series of tests. Engineers and draughtsmen define future developments. In a closing stop-motion sequence, in a style reminiscent of Norman McLaren, a group of loudspeakers performs a playful dance. The film overall is a poetic depiction of an industrial process.Written by David Carless (IMDB)

 

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The Philosopher Kings (2009)

70m; U.S.

Director: Patrick Shen

Synopsis: Some people we revere, some we despise and others we simply ignore. The figure of the invisible janitor at last acquires a face, name, and personality in this probing look at the wisdom that comes from lives lived fully.

Contact: Premiered at SilverDocs 2009 Eileen Street, The Philosopher Kings PR Coordinator (510) 910-5778 press@transcendfilms.com http://www.philosopherkingsmovie.com http://www.transcendfilms.com

 

Photo Booth (2009)

1m; U.S.
Director: Paul Rey-Burns

Synopsis: It’s a lonely job, but someone’s got to do it — time to get organized maybe…

Contact: Paul Rey-Burns (paul.reyburns@mac.com)

Available on YouTube