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Category Archives: Genre

What Have The Unions Ever Done For Us? (2009)

2m; Australia

Director: Manic Studios

Synopsis: Riffing on the “What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?” skit from Monty Python’s Life of Brian this is a very funny skit where a bunch of business executives list off all the benefits unions have provided over the decades.

Contact: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=184NTV2CE_c

 

The Trainee (2006)

9m; Singapore

Director: Craig Rosenthal

Synopsis: This amusing Asian short revolves around a loser whose efforts to rob a convenience store are foiled by his own repeated stupidity.

Contact: Youtube link to the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYTWpbanE2M Found on 2007 Palm Springs Shorts Film Fest: http://www.psfilmfest.org/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=19323&FID=31 hellocraigrosenthal@gmail.com

 

We Were There

5m; U.S.

Synopsis: Theme song by Bev Grant, written for a multi-media show by the same name, about women’s labor history.

Contact: available online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjnyk06MZRY

 

The Janitor (2009)

7m

Director: Josephine Anderson

Synopsis: This short documentary follows the daily struggles of two janitors at a North American university. The film takes a critical look at the communication, or lack of communication, that happens between janitors and those that use the facilities they clean. Shot at Capilano University, in North Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Contact: Josephine Anderson josephineanderson@gmail.com http://www.youtube.com/user/joeyphine#p/a/u/0/yJuaMmjSJjM

 

USW Local 6500 Xmas Party ’09 (2009)

3:50m; U.S.

Director: Stuart Cryer

Synopsis: Steelworkers local 6500 has been on strike against Vale-INCO for five months, so as the holiday season approaches, it’s time for their kids to have a bit of a celebration.

Contact: Stuart Cryer terraV@cyberbeach.net

 

The Workout (2008)

11m; U.S.

Director: Sami Khan

Synopsis: Earving and his teenage son Terry don’t have the best relationship, so to get through this weekend they’re going to have to do some heavy lifting – literally.

Contact: View online – http://vimeo.com/12451848

 

The Hungry Miles (1954)

49m; Australia

Director: Jack Levy, Keith Gow

Synopsis: The Hungry Miles is a documentary made by the Waterside Workers Federation Film Unit. It documents industrial relations on the waterfront since the 1930s and includes dramatised scenes of working conditions during the Depression. It also recounts the background to the Federal Governments 1954 amendments to the Stevedoring Industry Act, which proposed to give shipowners the right to directly recruit wharf labour and bypass the union; shows workers demonstrating; contrasts the gap between industry and workers in the division of profits; and evokes the spirit of the Eureka Stockade in portraying the solidarity amongst waterside workers. It includes voice-over narration by Leonard Teale and employs an orchestral score.

Contact: View here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k16WogNM1yE

 

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The Trotsky (2009)

120m; Canada

Director: Jacob Tierney

Cast: Liane Balaban, Jay Baruchel and Taylor Baruchel

Synopsis: Leon Bronstein is a high school student in Montreal West who is absolutely convinced he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky.  After leading a hunger strike with some of his fellow private school peers against his father, the owner of a textile factory who will not allow the workers to unionize, Leon is sent to public school.  There he finds apathy, but also potential and begins to organize a student union, while also pursuing an older woman he is convinced he must marry.  A very funny and smart film that includes a lot of genuine moments about the power of organizing, and a lot of jokes about labor and left-wing history.

Trailer

 

This Is The Subway (2006)

30m; Argentina

Director: Ojo Obrero

Synopsis: Buenos Aires Subway workers win fight for 6 hour day

 
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Posted by on May 18, 2012 in Documentary, Organizing

 

The Take (2004)

87m; Argentina/Canada

Director: Avi Lewis

Cast: Naomi Klein, Matilde Adorno, Michel Camadessus and Bill Clinton

Synopsis: Argentina underwent an economic collapse in 2001, leaving behind bankrupties and massive unemployment. A few years later, in Buenos Aires, 30 unemployed auto-parts workers walk into an idle factory, roll out sleeping mats and refuse to leave. They’re part of a daring movement of workers trying to recover and re-create their jobs. With The Take, outspoken journalist Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein, author of No Logo, have crafted a radical economic manifesto for the 21st century.

Contact: http://frif.com/new2004/ake.html http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=51735

 

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