53m; U.S.
Director: Donald Hyatt
Synopsis: A record of America changing from a rural to an industrialized society. Highlighting major events in national life through 1917.
Category Archives: Genre
Promises to Keep (1988)
57m; U.S.
Director: Ginny Durrin
Cast: Martin Sheen, Mitch Snyder
Synopsis: Documentary about the work of homeless advocate Mitch Snyder and the Community for Creative Non-Violence during the 1980s in response to rising homelessness and federal housing cuts.
The Proud Valley (1940)
76m; U.S.
Director: Pen Tennyson
Cast: Paul Robeson, Edward Chapman and Simon Lack
Synopsis (IMDB): In a Welsh coal mining valley, a young man with a beautiful singing voice is called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice when a pit disaster threatens.
Pulp Fiction, Poison Promises (1995)
14m; U.S.
Director: Mimi Pickering
Synopsis: Mimi Pickering of Appalshop was hired to direct a film about the proposed pulp mill to be built at Apple Grove, Mason County. The Affiliated Construction Trades Foundation paid for the film that explores the dangers that the pulp mill would present – to the workers and the local environment including dumping dioxin into the Ohio River. Many groups, both labor and environmental, opposed the mill, supported by Gov. Caperton and the Legislature. Eventually, the mill was not built. The film also examines the impact that the company’s pulp mill had in the area around Monroe, AL. The film was broadcast on WV television several times. See Doug Hawes-Davis’ film,” Green Rolling Hills” and “Southbound” from High Plains Films. Access: Steve Fesenmaier, WVLC
¡Que Viva Mexico!
90m; Mexico-U.S.S.R.
Director: Sergei M. Eisenstein
Synopsis: Eisenstein shows us Mexico in this movie, its history and its culture. He believes, that Mexico can become a modern state.
Questions of Leadership (AKA “Problems of Democracy in Trade Unions: Some Views from the Frontline”) [1983]
Director: Ken Loach
Synopsis: Response of the British trade union movement to the challenge posed by the policies of the Thatcher government.
Quilombo (1986)
119; Brazil
Director: Carlos Diegues
Cast: Jonas Bloch, Zózimo Bulbul and Emmanuel Cavalcanti
Synopsis (IMDB): Palmares is a 17th-century quilombo, a settlement of escaped slaves in northeast Brazil. In 1650, plantation slaves revolt and head for the mountains where they find others led by the aged seer, Acotirene. She anoints one who becomes Ganga Zumba, a legendary king. For years, his warriors hold off Portuguese raiders; then he agrees to leave the mountains in exchange for reservation land and peace. It’s a mistake. Zumbi, a warrior whose mother was killed by Portuguese and who spent 15 years with the Whites, stays in the mountains to lead Palmares. In 1694, the Portuguese import a ruthless captain from São Paulo to lead an assault on the free Blacks. Can Zumbi keep Palmares free?
REplace (2010)
57m; Netherlands
Director: Sven Jense
Synopsis: Documentary about African immigrants coming to work in Europe – if they make it. Sven Jense reversed their route, traveling from Amsterdam to Mali, West Africa. On his way he meets with different migrants, from a mother in Paris to a construction engineer who never made it. Sven Jense is a filmmaker who has his roots in theatre and political science. REplace is his first documentary. THEME: Migrant workers
Risk/Reward (2003)
88m;
Director: Elizabeth Holder, Xan Parker
Cast: Umber Ahmad, Maria Bartiromo and Roslyn Dickerson
Synopsis (IMDB): While there have been many movies about Wall Street, there has been little attention given to the specific challenges and stresses of the high-ranking women who work there. Risk/Reward is an insider’s view of the demands and sacrifices that working mothers have in a typically high-powered, male- dominated industry. This film was selected for the 2003 Tribeca, Hot Docs and Full Frame Film Festivals (among others) and will air on the Oxygen network.
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