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Category Archives: White Collar

Factory Boss (“Da gong lao ban”)

19 Nov

2014
101m
China
Directed by Zhang Wei
With: Yao Anlian, Tang Yan, Zhao Ju, Huang Jingyi, Gao Xueqin, Yun Mengjie; Chen Liang. (Mandarin dialogue)

The title figure in “Factory Boss” is one who normally garners little sympathy, particularly in the West, where cheap Chinese labor has undercut local production. Yet helmer Zhang Wei and thesp Yao Anlian create a complex character virtually impossible not to identify with, at least partially: Caught between a rock and a hard place — the paper-thin profit margins offered by Western conglomerates vs. rising worker demands at home — he inevitably winds up treating everyone unfairly, including himself. For growing ranks of China watchers, “Factory Boss” offers an engrossing expose of the built-in impasses of global economics from an unexplored perspective.
Ronnie Scheib, Variety
http://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/film-review-factory-boss-1201300789/

 
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Posted by on November 19, 2014 in Big Business/Corporations, Drama, Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing, Manufacturing, Technology, White Collar

 

Sky Blue Collar

23 Jun

A businessman and a carpet installer enjoy a wild and playful friendship, but when their class-conscious bosses pressure them to steer clear of each other, the Romeo and Juliet of the workaday world must decide what’s more important: how we make a living, or who we’re living for.

Directed by: Derek Frey

http://www.lazerfilm.com/films/skybluecollar/index.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3029942/

 
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Posted by on June 23, 2014 in Class, Comedy, Streaming Online (Youtube, Vimeo), White Collar, Working Class

 

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Nachtschicht (Night Shift)

21 Jan

2011night-shift_550
Directed by: Timo Grosspietsch
Documentary Feature (65 minutes)

A butcher, a post office worker, a taxi driver, a nurse and a deejay are accompanied during their night in Hamburg. Documentary filmmaker and cameraman Timo Grosspietsch observes with his camera in such a way that involves the audience immediately. It is a quiet film that leaves room for the people portrayed and depicts their workplace in carefully composed images. It documents the tough daily life of those whose jobs nobody really wants to do anymore.

 
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Posted by on January 21, 2014 in Cities-Urban, Documentary, Service Workers, Transportation, White Collar

 

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Fluoridegate: An American Tragedy (2013)

13 Jan

Directed by: David Kennedy
Documentary Feature  (65 minutes) 2013fluoridegate-an-american-trajedy

Fluoride, which has been added to the drinking water of most Americans for decades, turns out to be quite dangerous, according to the scientists and health officials in this film. Several of them lost their jobs for being whistleblowers. This film follows their efforts to clear their own names as well as to warning us about this industrial waste poison masquerading as a beneficial public service. The tragedy is that government, industry and trade associations are protecting and promoting a policy known to cause harm to our health. Eye opening.

http://www.fluoridegate.org/

 
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Posted by on January 13, 2014 in Documentary, Safety & Health, Whistleblowers, White Collar

 

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Dandarin labor standards inspectors (2013 TV show)

01 Nov

A new TV drama series featuring labor inspectors and their work started broadcasting in Japan in 2013. This is the first time ever in Japanese TV drama history. The first episode concerns a “bad employer” who harasses workers and refuses to pay overtime. In recent years, people often talk about “black companies” that squeeze everything out of their employees, and that may be why the TV company thought this kind of show could attract audience.

In any case, we are hoping that young students will watch this TV and that the number of applications for an exam to become a labor inspector (which is a relatively obscure profession at the moment, to be honest) will increase. Unfortunately the series has not been translated from Japanese.

Info: http://www.ntv.co.jp/dandarin/
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgeD5LSXJhE

Post by Kayo Rokumoto kayo.rokumoto@mofa.go.jp

 
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Posted by on November 1, 2013 in Legal System, Safety & Health, Whistleblowers, White Collar

 

War on Whistleblowers: Free Press and the National Security State (2013)

20 Feb

directed by Robert Greenwald

Not only is Big Brother now watching your every move, the Government is also preventing you from speaking out. In our new full length documentary War on Whistleblowers: Free Press and the National Security State we tell the stories of four people who were silenced and the journalists who were finally able to get their voices heard.

info@bravenew01.org

 
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Posted by on February 20, 2013 in Documentary, Public Sector, Whistleblowers, White Collar

 

American Karoshi

13 Jul

14m; U.S.

Director: Alex Willemin

Cast: John Iovino, Cyril Serrao and Drew Daly

Synopsis (IMDB): After being fired from his job, Lee is given a second chance by his boss and CEO of the company, Scott Anderson III. Unfortunately, instead of filling out forms, Lee must save Scott’s life.

Trailer

Available here: http://www.imdb.com/video/wab/vi1264557337/

 
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Posted by on July 13, 2012 in Comedy, Drama, White Collar

 

The Informant (2009)

13 Jun

108m; U.S.

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Cast: Matt Damon, Tony Hale and Patton Oswalt

Synopsis: “The Informant” is a true story that parallels a mixture of “A Beautiful Mind” and “The Insider” — where real life Ph.D.s had done something extraordinary. Based on Kurt Eichenwald’s 2000 book, “The Informant” is the tale of Mark Whitacre (played by Matt Damon), an Ivy League Ph.D. who was a rising star at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in the early 1990s. The bipolar hero wound up blowing the whistle on the company’s price fixing tactics and became the highest-ranked executive to ever turn whistleblower in US history. Whitacre secretly gathered hundreds of hours of video and audio tapes over several years to present to the FBI which became one of the largest price fixing cases in history. In the story — a dark comedy / thriller in director Steven Soderbergh’s hands — Whitacre’s good deed dovetails with his own major infractions and struggle with severe bipolar disorder.

 
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Posted by on June 13, 2012 in Comedy, Drama, Whistleblowers, White Collar

 

The Secret of My Success (1987)

13 Jun

111m; U.S.

Director: Herbert Ross

Cast: Michael J. Fox, Helen Slater and Richard Jordan

Synopsis (IMDB): Brantley Foster, a well-educated kid from Kansas, has always dreamed of making it big in New York. On his first work day in New York, he is fired in a hostile take-over and learns that jobs – and girls – are hard to get. When Brantley visits his distant uncle, Howard Prescott, who runs a multi-million-dollar company, he is given a job in the company’s mail room. Then Brantley meets Christy Wills, who happens to be one of the top executives. Brantley sees how poorly the company is being run and decides to create a position under the name Carlton Whitfield, to influence and improve the company’s operations. Soon things get unexpectedly out of hand, not in the least because of his aunt, his girl and leading a double life.

 
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Posted by on June 13, 2012 in Comedy, White Collar, Working Class

 

Thelma & Louise (1991)

13 Jun

130m; U.S.

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis and Harvey Keitel

Synopsis (IMDB): Louise is working in a fast food restaurant as a waitress and has some problems with her friend Jimmy, who, as a musician, is always on the road. Thelma is married to Darryl who likes his wife to stay quiet in the kitchen so that he can watch football on TV. One day they decide to break out of their normal life and jump in the car and hit the road. Their journey, however, turns into a flight when Louise kills a man who threatens to rape Thelma. They decide to go to Mexico, but soon they are hunted by American police.

 
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Posted by on June 13, 2012 in Crime-Action, Drama, White Collar, Working Class

 
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