9 minutes
by Jeff Manning
Category Archives: Labor History
Bread and Roses: The Lawrence Textile Strike
6:17m
The Lawrence Textile Strike was a strike of immigrant workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912 led by the Industrial Workers of the World. Prompted by one mill owner’s decision to lower wages when a new law shortening the workweek went into effect in January, the strike spread rapidly through the town, growing to more than twenty thousand workers at nearly every mill within a week. The strike, which lasted more than two months and which defied the assumptions of conservative trade unions within the American Federation of Labor that immigrant, largely female and ethnically divided workers could not be organized, was successful; within a year, however, the union had largely collapsed and most of the gains achieved by the workers were lost.
The Song of the Shirt (1979)
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Cast: Martha Gibson, Geraldine Pilgrim, Anna McNiff, Liz Myers, Jill Greenhalgh, Sally Cranfield, Alfred Molina |
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An investigation into the position of working women in the 1840s, the effects of protectionist ‘philanthropy’ and the resistance to it. Explores the plight of a group of women working in the new ‘sweated’ clothes trade in London. |
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| Originally intended as a history of the welfare state, as well as a contribution to debates on feminist history, issues of free trade against philanthropy and capitalist expansion against protectionism, The Song of the Shirt became a subject of debate in itself, not least thanks to its four-year gestation.Many different groups, including Women’s Aid and the Feminist History Project, were involved during this long production period, and as a result the final film had a broader agenda (and therefore audience) than was originally planned. While it still addresses ideas of feminist history and Marxist theory, it can also be read as a rather more ambitious project that fuses the history of fashion, literacy and sexuality.
It is constructed as a documentary, although the use of multiple-screen effects, monitors displaying text and projected backdrops constantly disrupts the flow of information. Few dates are revealed in the film, forcing us to address the arguments rather than the chronology. It moves back and forth between locations and eras, juxtaposed in such a way as to highlight the contradictions in the labour market. Close-ups of women and characters in the dramatised scenes are avoided, and in the tribunal sequence the figure-of-eight camera movements suggest aimlessness. The women’s readings, both singly and in groups, are based on a story that appeared in the magazine Notes to the People. ‘A Page for the Ladies’ argues that all classes of women are oppressed. Women of different classes read the text in different ways, with other voices of workers and political writers given equal footing with the text. The Song of the Shirt‘s combination of relentless political content and a dislocated and disruptive presentation makes it stand out from its contemporaries in its ambition to present a genuinely feminist independent film. Co-director Sue Clayton, a graduate of the Royal College of Art, has continued to explore these themes through her work with the Independent Filmmakers’ Association and Screen magazine. Emma Hedditch |
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No God, No Master (2013)
American independent crime suspense thriller directed, written, and produced by Terry Green and starring David Strathairn, Ray Wise, Sam
Witwer, Edoardo Ballerini and Alessandro Mario. No God, No Master was filmed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The story includes references to the Ludlow Massacre and depictions of the Sacco and Vanzetti trial and the Wall Street bombing.
When a series of package bombs show up on the doorsteps of prominent politicians and businessmen in the summer of 1919, U.S. Bureau of Investigation Agent William Flynn (David Strathairn) is assigned the task of finding those responsible. He becomes immersed in an investigation that uncovers an anarchist plot to destroy democracy. Inspired by true events of the 20s the film sets the stage for a timely thriller with resoundingly similar parallels to the contemporary war on terrorism and the role government plays to defeat it.
‘No God, No Master,’ a Look at 1919-20 Raids – NYTimes.com
Fly to Transcend
Documentary
China
Director: Tu Qiao
90 Minutes
This is a story about Tian Yu, one of the survivors of the shocking “13 jump” suicides at Foxconn, the primary manufacturer of Apple products. The documentary reflects on the background and deeper causes of the tragedy from the perspectives of international relations, globalization, Chinese local government, and internal enterprise management, and with academic experts as well as media. After three years of silence Tian Yu finally spoke up to tell us the truth. Tian Yu today is an outstanding woman who is passionate about life, independent, and eager to help others. She has not only found love, but also hopes to be able to raise her kids like any normal person.
Bread, Concrete, and Roses
2013
Documentary
Turkey
Director: Yonetmen
The film is about the dangerous life of construction workers in a foreign land far from their homeland, and their social problems.
–Written by Steven Zeltzer
THE LABOR FILM DATABASE 