39m; U.S.
Director: Jon Alpert, Matthew O’Neill
Synopsis (IMDB): Follows the struggle of 138 mostly immigrant workers who strike to save their jobs at a famous bakery in the Bronx when a private equity firm buys the bakery and demands wage cuts of up to 30%.
Contact: http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/no-contract-no-cookies-the-stella-doro-strike/index.html#/documentaries/no-contract-no-cookies-the-stella-doro-strike/synopsis.html
95m; U.S.
Director: John Hanson, Rob Nilsson
Cast: Robert Behling, Susan Lynch and Joe Spano
Synopsis: Northern Lights tells the story of North Dakota farmers who rebel against the economic tyranny of the railroads, grain dealers, and bankers by working for the election of Nonpartisan League candidates in 1916. (from http://jetson.unl.edu/cocoon/encyclopedia/doc/egp.fil.051)
11m; U.S.
Director: Jon Lewis
Synopsis: Farm Workers’ struggle in the US.
7m; U.K.
Synopsis: Directed and produced by Mat Haywood and Lihee Avidan for Channel 4TV Two of four stories about migrant health care workers in England, the films show a brief look at how migrant workers contribute to the labour force in the NHS and the connection between working abroad and the life they have left behind. Produced with the assistance of Public Services International.
115m; U.S.
Director: Gary Sinise
Cast: John Malkovich, Gary Sinise and Ray Walston
Synopsis (IMDB): Based on John Steinbeck’s 1937 classic tale of two travelling companions, George and Lennie, who wander the country during the Depression, dreaming of a better life for themselves. Then, just as heaven is within their grasp, it is inevitably yanked away. The film follows Steinbeck’s novel closely, exploring questions of strength, weakness, usefulness, reality and utopia, bringing Steinbeck’s California vividly to life.
98m; U.K.
Director: Gaby Dellal
Cast: Peter Mullan, Brenda Blethyn and Billy Boyd
Synopsis (IMDB): After decades of laboring as a Glasgow shipbuilder, Frank Redmond, a no-nonsense 55-year-old working-class man, suddenly finds himself laid off. For the first time in his life, he is without a job or a sense of direction, and he’s too proud to ask for guidance. His best mates – rascally Danny, timid Norman and cynical Eddie – are there for him, but Frank still feels desperately alone. An offhand remark from Danny inspires Frank to challenge himself. Already contemplating the state of his relationships with loving wife Joan and all-but-estranged son Rob, Frank is determined to shore up his own self-confidence. He will attempt the near impossible – swimming the English Channel. As Frank plunges headlong into his new daily life, his astonished friends are swept along with him. Prodded by stalwart fish-and-chips shop owner Chan, the men support Frank, train him – and keep their goal secret from his wife and son.
75m; China
Director: Guo Xiaolu
Synopsis: These twelve lyrical and politically insightful visual essays unveil the social landscape of China today.
Contact: Marion Klotz marion@memento-films.com
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