119m; U.S.
Director: John Sayles
Cast: John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, David Strathairn, Christopher Lloyd, Studs Turkel
Synopsis: A dramatization of the Black Sox scandal when the underpaid Chicago White Sox accepted bribes to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series.
51m; Canada
Director: Min Sook Lee
Synopsis: El Contrato (The Contract) follows Teodoro Bello Martinez, a father of four living in Central Mexico, and several of his countrymen as they make an annual migration to southern Ontario. For eight months of the year the town’s population absorbs 4000 migrant labourers who pick tomatoes for conditions and wages no local will accept. Under a well-meaning government program that allows growers to monitor themselves, the opportunity to exploit workers is as ripe as the fruit they pick. Only men with families to support and no more than an elementary school education need apply. Grievances – among them abusive bosses, unhealthy conditions and paying for benefits they don’t receive – are deflected by a long line of others “back home” who are willing to take their place. Despite a fear of repercussions, the workers voice their desire for dignity and respect, as much as for better working conditions. El Contrato ends as winter closes in and the Mexicans return home. Back in the embrace of their families some pledge, not for the first time and possibly not the last, that it’s their final season in the north. DVD of 2003 original.
141m; U.S.
Director: Gregory Nava
Cast: Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez, David Villalpando and Ernesto Gómez Cruz
Synopsis: Mayan Indian peasants, tired of being thought of as nothing more than “brazos fuertes” (“strong arms”, i.e., manual laborers) and organizing in an effort to improve their lot in life, are discovered by the Guatemalan army. After the army destroys their village and family, a brother and sister, teenagers who just barely escaped the massacre, decide they must flee to “El Norte” (“the North”, i.e., the USA). After receiving clandestine help from friends and humorous advice from a veteran immigrant on strategies for traveling through Mexico, they make their way by truck, bus and other means to Los Angeles, where they try to make a new life as young, uneducated, and undocumented immigrants.
85m; U.S.
Director: Douglas Horn
Cast: D.B. Sweeney, Missi Pyle and Cedric Yarbrough
Synopsis: A 38-year old former chef starts all over again when he interviews for entry-level corporate jobs–and can’t get one.
43m; U.S.
Director: Cambridge Documentary Films
Synopsis: Documentary overview of the struggles of the workers in industry through historic union formations and workers’ political parties as observed in this film of Eugene Debs and heard in his own words as narrated by his friend and comrade Shubert Sebree
95m; France
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Cast: Yves Montand, Jane Fonda and Vittorio Caprioli
Synopsis (Wikipedia): The film centers on a strike at a sausage factory witnessed by an American reporter and her French husband, who is a film director. The film is Marxist in its political message, explaining the logic of the class struggle, and Brechtian in its formal qualities, which emphasize the motion of the camera. The factory set consists of a cross-section of the building and allows the camera to dolly back and forth from room to room, theoretically through the walls. This makes the factory look like an ant farm, and serves the overarching Marxist agenda. This staging is also an homage to Jerry Lewis‘s film The Ladies Man in which a similar set is used for a women’s boarding house.
90m; U.S.
Synopsis: The history of America’s favorite pastime as it was played by the men who dug America’s coal in the 1930’s and 40’s. Practically every coal town in WV. had a baseball team and Sunday was spent at the ball diamond every Sunday. Some of the finest athletes that played professional ball starred as players in the coal leagues. Many other fine WV. athletes received offers to play professional ball, but decided to stay in the coal fields for a variety of reasons. Listen to some of the reasons and some fascinating memories of the games and times. A look back through extensive use of photographs from the turn of the century through the beginning of WW II.
92m; U.S.
Director: Mike Judge
Cast: Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig and Ben Affleck
Synopsis: Joel, the owner of an Extract plant, tries to contend with myriad personal and professional problems, such as his potentially unfaithful wife and employees who want to take advantage of him. There are labor issues — the plant workers try to form a union — but they’re incidental and the focus is primarily on the plan owner and his personal problems.
28m; U.S.
Director: Andrea Bloom
Synopsis (IMDB): A driver, train rider, and cyclist each ride 90 minutes or more to get to work in Washington, DC. “Extreme Commuting” follows the daily paths of these three professionals as they negotiate their way through one of the most congested cities in the nation. Jon lives in rural Virginia and drives on busy highways into the heart of DC, a trip that often takes him two hours or more and necessitates that he do much of his work on the road. Lori rides a bus and commuter train with her friends, who provide a much needed levity during the long trip. Mark bicycles across DC, often logging extra miles to spend time with his girlfriend, who cycles to work in a different part of the city. In accompanying each of these people on their daily rides, we learn the impact extreme commuting has on their quality of life and why so many choose to make the journey.
58m; U.S.
Director: Amie Williams
Synopsis: 2002 ILWU lockout
Contact: http://www.balmaidenfilms.com/who.html
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