10m; U.K.
Director: Adam Stafford
Synopsis: A mesmerizing portrait of the influence of an oil refinery in a Scottish town. Stirring narration coupled with stunning images mark this moving short.
Contact: Screened at 2009 SilverDoc
Category Archives: Genre
The Sixth Section (2003)
26m; U.S.
Director: Alex Rivera
Synopsis: The Sixth Section opens a surprising window on immigration in the 21st century. Following a group of Mexican immigrants from the tiny desert town of Boqueron who now work in upstate New York, the film documents their struggle to support themselves — and their hometown 3,000 miles to the south. To do this, the men form a ‘union’ that raises money in the form of weekly donations of $10 or $20 from each of its members in New York. In the past few years the group has brought electricity, an ambulance, and, most dramatically, a 2,000-seat baseball stadium to Boqueron. The Sixth Section is an intimate portrait of how the ‘American Dream’ is being redefined by today’s immigrants.
Contact: http://www.pbs.org/pov/thesixthsection/
The Stockyards: End of an Era
Synopsis: Film discusses the closing of the Chicago Stockyards, black struggles with union, history of work in yards, ethnic backgrounds.
The Stone Carvers (1984)
30m; U.S.
Director: Marjorie Hunt, Paul Wagner
Cast: Vincent Palumbo and Roger Morigi
Synopsis (IMDB): A look at some of the last stone carvers working in the United States, those completing the sculptures adorning the Washington National Cathedral. They discuss their craft and the cultural forces which helped define it, as well as the fading use of stone ornamentation in architecture and the history of stone carving, and they tour the cathedral to point out the history behind some of the work.
The Temptation of St Tony (2009)
110m; Estonia/Finland/Sweden
Director: Veiko Õunpuu
Synopsis: Veiko Õunpuu’s follow-up to the award-winning AUTUMN BALL (2008 AFI European Union Film Showcase) confirms him as one of Europe’s brightest young talents. Filmed in striking widescreen black and white, Õunpuu’s tale follows the passive, put-upon Tony (hangdog Taavi Eelmaa) through increasingly surreal tableaux: his father’s funeral procession, interrupted by a car crash; a bourgeois dinner party disrupted by vagrants; the shuttering of a factory and firing of its workers; and a rural police station manned by comically grotesque cops from which Tony, on a whim, helps a mysterious young beauty to escape. Following her to a sinister cabaret, Tony may have discovered the heart of darkness of today’s Eastern Europe. Winner, Horizons Award, 2009 Venice Film Festival; East of the West Award, 2010, Karlovy Vary Film Festival; Official Selection, 2010 Sundance and Rotterdam Film Festivals.
The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
90m; U.S.
Director: Rob Epstein
Synopsis: In 1978, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco city council, becoming the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California. One year later, he and Mayor George Moscone were shot and killed by Milk’s fellow council member, former police officer and firefighter Dan White. Won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Includes discussion of Milk’s early alliance with the Teamsters in taking on Coors Beer.
The Train (1964)
133m; U.S.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield and Jeanne Moreau
Synopsis: It is the fall of 1944 and the Allies are advancing to liberate Paris. German Colonel Von Waldheim decides to seize hundreds of France’s most famous artworks and ship them back to Germany via train. The French resistance wants to stop this and a team of working-class train operators and workmen are given the mission.
The Trap (2007)
115m; Serbia/Germany/Hungary
Director: Srdan Golubovic
Synopsis: Modern film noir reflecting the true face of Serbian “society in transition,” THE TRAP is an archetypal story of a parent’s worst nightmare—a dying child—and how far a man is willing to go to save him. In post-Milosevic’s Serbia there is no more war, however, normal life remains almost unreachable, and when Mladen is offered an only chance to save his son, he must confront moral and existential demons and decide how to measure the worth of a human life.
The Trickle Down Theory of Sorrow (2002)
15m; U.S.
Director: Mary Filippo
Synopsis: Veteran experimental filmmaker Mary Filippo tackles issues of work, class and gender roles in this visually captivating and provocative autobiographical piece. At the core of this engaging autobiographical piece is an interview with Filippo’s mother, as she recounts incidents of exploitation and gender discrimination she experienced working in jewelry factories in the 1940’s and 50’s. The filmmaker contrasts her mother’s quiet acquiescence with her own attitudes about social injustices of her culture through a striking montage of images and audio clips—moving the viewer to consider connections between consumerism and global labor practices, motherhood, money and happiness. – http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c615.shtml
The Union Song (2010)
3m; Canada
Director: Daniel Fewings
Synopsis: A short video containing a bluegrass song about how all members of the education community work together to keep the public school system strong.
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