What drives the global economy? This diverse collection of five films uncovers the connections between the experiences of women on a local level to broader economic patterns worldwide. From sex work to sustainable wages, these films tackle some of today’s most relevant issues and highlight the ways women are mobilizing to make changes in their lives.
Category Archives: Global Economy
Battle in Seattle (2007)
99m; U.S.
Director: Stuart Townsend
Cast: Charlize Theron, Ray Liotta, Andre Benjamin,
Synopsis: Movie dramatization of the 1999 anti-WTO protests in Seattle.
Blue Elephants (2010)
14m; Germany
Director: Moritz Siebert
Synopsis: This short documentary shows the dire labour conditions of migrant workers in the Malaysian electronics industry. Men and women from Nepal, Indonesia and other countries come as contract workers to work for Dell, HP, Intell and other well known brand companies. Migrant workers pay several thousands of dollars in commission to labour agents to get work permits. Workers often engage in heavy debts to obtain such permits which may grant them a stay in Malaysia for five year maximum. Time to pay off these debts is limited, while pay is low. Migrant workers face discrimination in Malaysian society as well as on the work floor, and have to accept bad housing conditions. The work load is heavy, and when worker fail to meet set targets, they risk immediate dismissal. When workers get pregnant or fall ill, they are sent back home at their own expenses. The documentary has been produced by Moritz Siebert in cooperation with World Economy, Ecology, development (WEED), for the European Procure IT Fair campaign.
Contact: http://www.vimeo.com/18617196
Black Gold: A Film About Coffee and Trade (2006)
78m; U.K.
Director: Mark & Nick Francis
Synopsis: How unfair trade and labor practices in the coffee industry have kept Africa mired in poverty.
Contact: Brought to our attention in 2010 by: Nicola Seyd for London Socialist Film Co-op nseyd@hotmail.com movie website: http://www.blackgoldmovie.com/ distribution@blackgoldmovie.com
For Man Must Work or The End of Work (2000)
52m; Canada
Director: Jean-Claude Burger
Synopsis: Globalization and the impacts of plant closings.
Contact: First Run/Icarus Films 718-488-8642 f 718-488-8900 v Tom Hyland
Hula Girls (2006)
110m; Japan
Director: Lee Sang-il
Cast: Yasuko Matsuyuki, Etsushi Toyokawa and Yû Aoi
Synopsis: Billy Elliot meets “Shall We Dance?” Japanese coal-mining town tries to deal with loss of jobs.
Contact: http://www.fortissimofilms.com/catalogue/title.asp?filmID=311
Trailer
H-2 Worker (1990)
70m; U.S.
Director: Stephanie Black
Synopsis: Stephanie Black has a record of making films about the real costs of economic development including Life and Debt about the economic destruction in Jamaica because of IMF policies. In H-2 worker, we learn about the real labor conditions of agricultural workers who are brought to the US and then used virtually as slave labor in the H-2 program. These workers who are brought in to Florida’s Lake Okeechobee area from Jamaica and the Caribbean are the “slave” workers of America providing great profits for the agricultural owners and misery for the workers and their families. It also is connected with the efforts in California by some leading politicians to bring back the “guest workers” program.
Contact: http://www.lifeanddebt.org/h2worker/
Trailer
It’s a Free World (2007)
96m; U.K.
Director: Ken Loach
Cast: Kierston Wareing, Juliet Ellis and Leslaw Zurek
Synopsis (IMDB): Angie gets the sack from a recruitment agency for bad behaviour in public. Seizing the chance, she teams up with her flatmate, Rose, to run a similar business from their kitchen. With immigrants desperate to work the opportunities are considerable, particularly for two girls so in tune with these times
Contact: Please feel free to show whichever of Ken’s films you feel your audience would most appreciate. You should be able to get a copy of most of them but a couple of them are dogged by convoluted rights issues with the BBC. However, the BFI and the British Council are a great source and will help you get most of the films. The best person to contact in the first instance is: Geraldine.higgins@britishcouncil.org (from “Ann Cattrall”)
Trailer
Life and Debt (2001)
80m; U.K./Jamaica
Director: Stephanie Black
Cast: Michael Manley, Stanley Fischer
Synopsis: Documentary looks at the effects of neo-liberal globalization on Jamaica, including policies of the World Trade Organization and free trade zones. Features wonderful interviews with the late democratic socialist Prime Minister of Jamaica Michael Manley and narration by novelist Jamaica Kincaid.
Trailer
Roger & Me (1989)
91m; U.S.
Director: Michael Moore
Synopsis: Michael Moore’s documentary about the decline of Flint, Michigan and the role of GM in the deindustrialization of a once-thriving industrial city.
Trailer
THE LABOR FILM DATABASE 