A Bill Moyers report
During the longest economic expansion in American history, many people had never had it so good. But for others, the boom only resulted in working longer hours at lower wages simply to keep up. This eye-opening program tells the story of the Neumanns and Stanleys, two working families in Milwaukee whose efforts to make ends meet in the new global economy reveal what life was like for millions of Americans during that period. Filmed over ten years, this intimate documentary captures their struggle to cope with economic upheaval and to keep their families intact with both parents working, children facing challenges in school and in the street, and family values being threatened by problems with no easy solutions. (2 parts, 67 minutes and 50 minutes)
Available from Films Media Group
Also available online on Vimeo
Director: Bann Roy
60m
What if your gender barred you from applying for a job, and once you were allowed to apply, the rules changed to make it impossible for you to qualify? What if you took legal action to be considered fairly for the job but then faced overwhelming discrimination and hostility from your co-workers? Welcome to the world of Captain Brenda Berkman and the first women to join one of the most celebrated—and macho—lifesaving organizations in the world: the New York City Fire Department.
TAKING THE HEAT: The First Women Firefighters of New York City tells the story of Berkman and the small group of women who dared to want a “man’s job.” Through one-on-one interviews, filmmaker Bann Roy exposes the loneliness, violence and even sexual abuse these women endured to serve their communities.
Home and educational video copies of TAKING THE HEAT: The First Women Firefighters of New York City are available from:
Anjali Films
Email: yoon@takingtheheat.com
4m
Director: John Lett
GoIAM.org – Whether it’s a strike or factory floor, former union organizer Ralph Fasanella devoted his life to painting working men and women. The man who is considered America’s best self taught artist, would eventually complete hundreds of pieces of work dedicated to jobs and justice.
Available online
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Italy; 91m
Natale, an apprentice bricklayer, and Luisa, who has no skill, marry and try to live with Natale’s parents and other relatives in one apartment, what might happen in the poorest classes in Rome about 1950. After a quarrel Natale and Luisa precipitately leave without a place to live. The remainder of the film is devoted to their finding housing. The solution is building a one room brick dwelling as a squat on unused railway land on the outskirts of Rome. As this is illegal Natale gets his workmates to assist him during the night. Provided a dwelling has a door and a roof the householder cannot be evicted. At dawn when the police arrive to remove them the dwelling is complete except for part of the roof, but a humane policeman looks the other way. We suppose that Natale and Luisa, now pregnant, live happily ever after. (Wikipedia)
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