545m; China
Director: Wang Bing
Category Archives: Genre
Western Coal – An American Dilemma (1980)
21m; U.S.
Synopsis: This films investigates the various issues and conflicts arising out of the extensive strip mining activities in and around a small Montana town. One one side are the coal companies, ranchers who want to sell their land, work men who need jobs and merchants who need the business. On the other side are ranchers and towns people joined by legislators who are concerned about destruction of their land and their way of life. Supported by the Tri-State Humanities Commission. The film helped establish a dialogue between the opposing sides.
Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary (2005)
97m; U.S.
Director: Arturo Perez Torres, Heather Haynes
Synopsis: Wetback, a quietly commanding documentary, follows in the footsteps of immigrants traveling from Nicaragua to the United States. On their journeys, they encounter gangs and vigilantes, as well as border patrol. But these immigrants navigate real-life nightmares with uncanny calm, grace, even humor. And director Arturo Perez Torres does all of us a favor by getting out of the way and allowing them to tell their stories.
Contact: http://www.ironweedfilms.com/films/wetback
What Harvest for the Reaper (1968)
59m; U.S.
Synopsis (Library of Congress): “A documentary of immigrant farm workers trapped by perpetual debt and showing recruitment, camp conditions and the type of work they do. The views of the growers and processors as well as workers are presented.”
What Would The Drop Know About That? (2007)
13m; Germany
Director: Jan Zabeil
Contact: http://www.ish.fm/site/index.php?article_id=14&clang=0
When Clouds Clear / Después de la Neblina (2008)
77m; Ecuador/U.S.
Director: Danielle Bernstein & Anne Slick
Synopsis: A documentary about the history and struggle of the remote Ecuadorian town, Junín and the conflicts that have arisen due to international mining interests.
Contact: Danielle Bernstein, Clear Films danielle@clearfilms.org
When Miners March (2006)
7 discs
Director: Ross Ballard
Synopsis: William C. Blizzard, the son of Bill Blizzard, the “general” of the Battle of Blair Mountain, with the assistance of Wess Harris, compiled his many accounts of the West Virginia Mine Wars in his book, “When Miners March.” He had written most of the book for various labor publications anonymously in the 1950s. In 2005 Ross Ballard took the book and turned it into a monumental “audio movie,” complete with sound effects and original music. Songs on the special CD are by T. Paige Dalporto, Elaine Purkey, Hazel Dickens, Mike Morningstar, John Lilly and the Irish duo of Enda Cullen and Ian Smith.
Contact: http://www.mountainwhispers.com/MWGiftShop.htm.
When Tomorrow Comes (1939)
90m; U.S.
Director: John M. Stahl
Cast: Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer and Barbara O’Neil
Synopsis: Washington Post columnist and American Prospect editor Harold Meyerson is one of the most incisive political commentators in the United States. Harold has also written about movies and entertainment (He is author of the book “Who Put the Rainbow in the Wizard of Oz?” about the lyricist Yip Harburg) so I asked him to write about anything he wanted to related to movies and politics. Harold can write authoritatively about almost anything. His fascinating review of the 1930s movie When Tomorrow Comes – a film he calls the “Lefty-est Thirties studio movie you’ve never heard of,” can be found at http://www.politicsfilm.blogspot.com/ Hope you enjoy this look back in film history which is an implicit critique of the state of filmmaking today. Kelly Candaele
When the Day’s Work is Done (1964)
30m; 29 min. sd. b&w. 16 mm.
Describes the work of union members who devote their after-work hours to the aid of their neighbors and the betterment of their communities. Features AFL-CIO president George Meany and vice-president Joseph Beirne.
Available from:
University of Maryland Libraries
Theodore R. McKeldin Library
College Park, MD 20742 United States
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24062 United States
THE LABOR FILM DATABASE 