Immigrants/Immigration | THE LABOR FILM DATABASE

Somers Town (2008)

71m; U.K.

Director: Shane Meadows

Cast: Thomas Turgoose, Ireneusz Czop and Piotr Jagiello

Synopsis: Two teenagers, both newcomers to London, forge an unlikely friendship over the course of a hot summer. Tomo (Thomas Turgoose) is a runaway from Nottingham; Marek (Piotr Jagiello), a Polish immigrant, lives in the district of Somers Town, between King’s Cross and Euston stations, where his dad is working on a new rail link. When Marek agrees to let homeless Tomo move into his room, unbeknownst to his father, the pair forms a strong bond, as they work odd jobs for an eccentric neighbor and compete for the attention of Maria, a beautiful young French waitress whom they are both infatuated with. But it’s only a matter of time before Marek’s dad discovers what’s going on…

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Posted by Metro Council on May 7, 2012 in Comedy, Drama, Immigrants/Immigration, Romance, Working Class

Spare Parts (2003)

07 May

87m; Italy

Director: Damjan Kozole

Cast: Peter Musevski, Aljosa Kovacic and Primoz Petkovsek

Synopsis (IMDB): Embittered widower, Ludvik, spends his nights transporting illegal refugees in his van from Croatia, across Slovenia, and into Italy. The young and inexperienced Rudi acts as his helpmate. Together they become a well-trained duo who almost every night convey “spare parts” to Italy. Of course the story of their illegitimate exports into Europe ends tragically, for everyone. The whole idea of this account is that everyone – including ourselves – is looking for happiness: the “spare parts” because of the misery they are plunged into without, and our characters because they can’t find it inside

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Posted by Metro Council on May 7, 2012 in Drama, Immigrants/Immigration, Legal System, Migrant workers

Special Pass (2009)

07 May

24m; Singapore

Director: Vicknesh Varan

Synopsis: A documentary about a group of foreign workers in Singapore who attempt to seek shelter and support themselves while out of work. This is the lesser-known story of foreigners who receive little support in a country that, ironically, was built by the work of immigrants.

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Posted by Metro Council on May 7, 2012 in Documentary, Immigrants/Immigration

Sugar (2008)

07 May

120m; U.S.

Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck

Cast; Algenis Perez Soto, Rayniel Rufino and Andre Hollan

Synopsis: By 2008, more than 25 percent of major league baseball players were born in Latin America. At 19, Miguel “Sugar” Santos, a serious kid from the Dominican Republic, signs with Kansas City. He flies to Phoenix for tryouts and is sent to the Class A team “The Swing” in the fictional town of Bridgetown, Iowa, where he lives with a farm family. Thus begins his odyssey: leaving his mom and girlfriend; living in an alien culture; learning English; overcoming jitters; working hard; achieving early success; navigating friendships, occasional racism, and a woman’s mixed signals; dealing with an injury; trying performance-enhancing drugs; and, searching for his place in the world. Will he make it to the Majors; will he play in New York?

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Posted by Metro Council on May 7, 2012 in Documentary, Immigrants/Immigration, Sports

The New Los Angeles (2006)

07 May

Director: Lyn Goldfarb

Synopsis (Lyn Goldfarb): The New Los Angeles paints a portrait of an extraordinary city poised to re-frame America’s dialogue about urban political and economic change. This powerful documentary takes the viewer on a journey from the bitterly fought, racially driven elections that brought Mayor Tom Bradley to power in 1973, to the historic 2005 election of L.A.’s first Latino mayor in more than 130 years, Antonio Villaraigosa. Along the way, The New Los Angeles examines how race, labor, and immigration have shaped and reshaped the city’s political life and landscape. This is a story about forging coalitions, nurturing inclusion, seeding innovation, salvaging identity and building community -messages that will resonate throughout America and the world.

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Posted by Metro Council on May 7, 2012 in Immigrants/Immigration, Labor History

Take Out (2004)

07 May

87m; U.S.

Director: Sean Baker, Shih-Ching Tsou

Cast: Charles Jang, Jeng-Hua Yu and Wang-Thye Lee

Synopsis: An illegal Chinese immigrant falls behind on payments on an enormous smuggling debt. Ming Ding has only until the end of the day to come up with the money.

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Posted by Metro Council on May 7, 2012 in Crime-Action, Drama, Immigrants/Immigration

Tags: Food Service Industry

Taxi Dreams (2000)

07 May

Director: Joanna Head

Cast: Muhammed Ahsan, Rafik Bakayev and Pramanik Bharadwaj

Synopsis (IMDB): These days, 90% of taxicab license applicants are born outside of the U. S… Taxi Dreams follows the stories of five of these immigrant drivers…on the road to the American dream.

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Posted by Metro Council on May 7, 2012 in Documentary, Immigrants/Immigration, Transportation

Taxi to Timbuktu (1994)

07 May

51m; U.S.
Director: Christopher Walken

Synopsis (Icarus Film): Alpha is a New York City taxi-driver. He comes from Batama, a village in the poorest region of Mali, Africa, a country among the poorest on earth. Since the drought of 1973, there has never been enough rain – the rivers have dried up, the animals have died, the trees are gone and the fields have turned to desert. The men of Batama have gone abroad, hoping to earn enough to keep the women and children alive.

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Posted by Metro Council on May 7, 2012 in Drama, Immigrants/Immigration, Transportation, Working Class

REplace (2010)

26 Apr

57m; Netherlands
Director: Sven Jense

Synopsis: Documentary about African immigrants coming to work in Europe – if they make it. Sven Jense reversed their route, traveling from Amsterdam to Mali, West Africa. On his way he meets with different migrants, from a mother in Paris to a construction engineer who never made it. Sven Jense is a filmmaker who has his roots in theatre and political science. REplace is his first documentary. THEME: Migrant workers

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Posted by Metro Council on April 26, 2012 in Documentary, Immigrants/Immigration, Migrant workers, Working Class