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Category Archives: Occupation/Type of Work

A War in Hollywood (2008)

24 Jan

89m; U.S.

Director: Oriol Porta

Synopsis: A War In Hollywood is an in-depth look at the impact that the Spanish Civil War and Franco’s dictatorship had on the North American film industry. Hollywood used the Civil War as a subject in more than 50 films. The defeat of democracy in Spain left an “open wound” in the heart of liberal actors, directors and screenwriters in the US, who used affection towards democratic Spain as a symbolic feature to define the romantic spirit of their characters. This sympathy, however, was shaped according to the American political tendencies of each period. This evolution is narrated through the personal story of Alvah Bessie, a Hollywood screenwriter who fought as a member of the International Brigade. This meticulous documentary includes excerpts from Casablanca, For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Way We Were among others, and commentary by actress Susan Sarandon.

Contact: 510-548-6521

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Entertainment Industry

 

A. Philip Randolph: For Jobs and Freedom (1996)

24 Jan

86m; U.S.

The Attorney General of the United States called A. Philip Randolph “the most dangerous Negro in America.” He forced President Roosevelt to integrate the armed forces, won the first-ever contract for a Black union when he organized the Pullman porters and was the moving force behind the historic 1963 March on Washington.

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Blacks, Documentary, Organizing, Service Workers, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts, Transportation

 

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An Engineer’s Assistant (1963)

24 Jan

37m; Japan

Director: Noriaki Tsuchimoto

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Transportation

 

Against Coercion (2006)

24 Jan

60m; Japan

Director: Kimigayo Fukiritsu

Synopsis: Japanese teachers fighting militarization and law requiring standing during the national anthem.

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Public Sector

 

The Agitator (1945)

24 Jan

85m; U.K.

Director: John Harlow

Synopsis: A socialist inherits the ownership of a major firm and begins wrestling with his beliefs.

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Drama, Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing, Public Sector, Working Class

 

All That I Love (2009)

24 Jan

95m; Poland

Director: Jacek Borcuch

Synopsis: Set in 1981, just as Poland’s Solidarity movement was about to become an active force for social and political change, writer-director Jacek Borcuch’s film blends elements of an American ’80s teen sex comedy, a Romeo and Juliet-style romance and raucous punk rock into a thoroughly winning story. In an industrial port town on the Baltic coast, Jacek (Mateusz Kosciukiewicz), the teenaged son of a navy captain, and his friends court controversy by forming a punk rock band. Jacek begins a tentative romance with schoolmate Basia (Olga Fryz), whose father is a union leader. As events come to a head, and the young lovers find their families in opposition, Jacek and his band, backed by the town’s youth, take a stand for freedom.

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Drama, Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing, Organizing, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts, Transportation, Working Class

 

Aliquippa: The Union Comes to “Little Siberia.”

24 Jan

30m; U.S.

Synopsis: This half-hour documentary, part of the PBS “Great Depression” program series, tells the dramatic story of the struggle at J&L Steel that led to the famous Supreme Court decision to uphold the constitutionality of the Wagner Act. After the win at Aliquippa extended the union beyond U.S. Steel surrendering without a shot in secret negotiations between John L. Lewis and Myron Taylor, the steelworkers’ union hit up against Tom Girdler’s extreme resistance. The Memorial Day massacre of 1937, just weeks after the victory at Aliquippa, kept the unions inside “Little Steel” without a contract until 1941.

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing, Organizing, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts, Working Class

 

America and Lewis Hine (1984)

24 Jan

60m; U.S.

Director: Nina Rosenblum

Synopsis (IMDB): Documentary about early 20th-century photographer Lewis Hine, who helped to expose grim working conditions in American factories and mines, especially the abuse and exploitation of children by their employers. Later, he became the official photographer for the construction of the Empire State Building

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing, Safety & Health

 

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American Casino (2009)

24 Jan

89m; U.S.

Directors: Leslie and Andrew Cockburn

Synopsis: Tells the compelling story of the housing and financial crisis. It systematically explains what happened with the banks gambling with, and profiting from, other people’s investments, then the film walks through the housing crisis through the stories of specific people that it affected by fraudulent and discriminatory lending practices perpetrated on them. The documentary backs up to the system’s problems of credit default swaps/hedge funds and the role of the insurance companies and their bailout, and ends with the community and health and human problems this has created for the society as a whole.

Contact: Andrew Cockburn amcockburn@gmail.com

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Finance

 

American Madness (1932)

24 Jan

75m; U.S.

Director: Frank Capra

Cast: Walter Huston

Synopsis: For twenty-five years, Tom Dickson, the President of Union National Bank, has had the bank, its employees and its clients in his best interest. In turn, his employees and the bank’s clients are fiercely loyal to Tom and the bank. The bank’s Board of Directors have a different view. They accuse Tom of being reckless, especially in being overly liberal in approving what they consider questionable loans. Tom defends his loan policy, stating that money in circulation is what is needed to help the country get out of the depression. The Board will do whatever it needs to to remove Tom from his position. When the bank is robbed of $200,000, one of Tom’s most loyal employees, Matt Brown, the newly appointed assistant head cashier, is implicated as the thief, although Tom believes Matt is innocent

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Drama, Finance, Working Class

 
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