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Category Archives: Genre

Land of Promise: The British Documentary Movement 1930-1950 [Short Film Collection]

Synopsis (BFI): A slimline reissue of the Land of Promise collection, featuring 40 films over four DVDs, this extensive collection is a major retrospective of the British documentary film movement during its period of greatest influence. These films – many of which are made available here for the first time since their original release – capture the spirit and strength, concerns and resolve of Britain and its people before, during and after the Second World War.

Bearing witness to the social and industrial transformations of a rapidly changing world, these fascinating historical documents are all striking for their different approaches to the form. Using poetry, dramatic reconstruction, modernist techniques and explicit propaganda, the filmmakers found fresh, new ways to get their message across.

Bringing together celebrated and less-known works from such luminaries as Paul Rotha, Humphrey Jennings, Ruby Grierson, Basil Wright and Paul Dickson, this landmark release is accompanied by a 92-page book of essays by leading film historians and experts.

Website: http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/acatalog/info_18175.html

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2012 in Documentary

 

Bull Durham (1988)

108m; U.S.

Director: Ron Shelton

Cast: Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins

Synopsis: A fan who has an affair with one minor-league baseball player each season meets an up-and-coming pitcher and the experienced catcher assigned to him.

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2012 in Comedy

 

Breyani and The Councillor (2006)

22m; South Africa

Director: Sally Giles & Fazel Khan

Synopsis: Struggle for decent housing/jobs in Durban, South Africa

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2012 in Documentary, Organizing, Working Class

 

Breaking Walls

Israel

Director: Yonatan Preminger

Synopsis: Follows Arab construction workers who begin to paint a mural. The film presents a hopeful picture in which walls between workers crumble. Beyond that, it shows a conservative society whose internal walls are being breached and aises important questions about the role of art in society.

 

Breaking Away (1979)

101m; U.S.

Director: Peter Yates

Cast: Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern

Synopsis: A small-town teen obsessed with the Italian cycling team vies for the affections of a college girl.  Class conflict in a small town.

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2012 in Comedy, Drama, Working Class

 

Bread and Roses (2009)

1:03; U.K.

Director: Jannettja Longyear

Synopsis: A film made by Jannettja Longyear , who made this film for the TUC 60 second ad contest. The music is evocative and the whole piece is beautifully presented. Jannettja has Parkinson’s and the effort that she put in to making this film was second to none.

Contact: aburton@tuc.org.uk

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2012 in Documentary

 

Bracero Stories (2008)

56m; U.S.

Director: Patrick J. Mullins

Synopsis: Personal experiences of five former “guest workers” in the controversial U.S.- Mexican government Bracero Program.

Contact: pmullins@utep.edu 915 747-7690 (Work) 915 539-5156 (Home)

 

Boys from the Blackstuff (1982)

U.K.

Synopsis: Five-part series for BBC television on the decline of the working class in the era of Margaret Thatcher.

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2012 in Documentary, Politics, Working Class

 

Boxcar Bertha (1972)

88m; U.S.

Director: Martin Scorcese

Cast: Barbara Hershey, David Carradine and Barry Primus

Synopsis (IMDB): During the depression, a union leader and a young woman become criminals to exact revenge on the management of a railroad.

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2012 in Drama, Transportation, Working Class

 

At The River I Stand (1993)

56m; U.S.

Director: David Appleby, Allison Graham, Steven Ross

Synopsis: Documents the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike and the historical forces which came together with the death of Dr. Martin Luther King. NOTE: see I Am A Man for a 10m version.

Opening Sequence