6:34; U.S.
Director: Universal International News
Synopsis: Newsreel footage about the merger of the AFL and CIO in 1955 to create the current AFL-CIO.
Category Archives: Themes
Builders and The Games (2012)
57m; U.K.
Director: Margaret Dickinson
Synopsis: “Builders and The Games is a 57 minute feature documentary about construction workers and the building of the 2012 Olympic Park in Stratford, London. Shot between 2007 and 2012, it looks at how far the Olympic Site set an example to the construction industry and compares outcomes with early promises about safety, training, jobs and recruitment.”
Contact: http://constructionandthegames.com/
Trailer
Compliance (2012)
90m; U.S.
Director: Craig Zobel
Cast: Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker and Pat Healy
Synopsis: “In the middle of a bad day Sandra (Ann Dowd), the harried manager of a fast-food franchise, receives a phone call from a man claiming to be a police officer. He accuses an employee named Becky (Dreama Walker) of theft and instructs Sandra to subject the pretty teenager to a series of humiliations: detain her in the stock room, confiscate her belongings, conduct a strip search and on and on. As the title suggests, at each step of this increasingly elaborate and unnerving hoax, Sandra and Becky do what they are told.”
–‘Compliance’ Raises Questions About Human Behavior; NYT 8/10/2012
Trailer
Four Horsemen (2012)
97m; U.K.
Director: Ross Ashcroft
Producer: Megan Ashcroft
p. +44 (0) 207 386 5277
m. +44 (0) 7815 117 336
megan@motherlode.org.uk
http://www.motherlode.org.uk
Cast: Noam Chomsky, Herman Daly and Joseph Stiglitz
Synopsis: debut feature from director Ross Ashcroft reveals the fundamental flaws in the economic system which have brought our civilization to the brink of disaster.
23 leading thinkers –frustrated at the failure of their respective disciplines – break their silence to explain how the world really works.
The film pulls no punches in describing the consequences of continued inaction – but its message is one of hope. If more people can equip themselves with a better understanding of how the world really works, then the systems and structures that condemn billions to poverty or chronic insecurity can at last be overturned. Solutions to the multiple crises facing humanity have never been more urgent, but equally, the conditions for change have never been more favourable.
Trailer
The Hunger Games (2012)
142m; U.S.
Director: Gary Ross
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland
Synopsis: In a dystopic future North America called Panem, the wealthy elite who live in the central city (known as the Capitol) exploit the impoverished workers of the rest of the country who are divided into twelve districts. The Capitol employs a range of social controls, including the Hunger Games, an annual event where two children from each district are thrown into an arena and fight until only one is left alive.
Into these games is thrust Katniss Everdeen, the daughter of a coal miner, who must use her wits and skills to survive while trying to maintain her humanity, even as her examples of resistance and solidarity begin to inspire some of the districts towards rebellion.
Trailer
Neighboring Sounds (2012)
KLEBER MENDONÇA FILHO
Brazil, 2012, 124 minutes, 35mm, Color, film’s website
Cast: Irandhir Santos (Clodoaldo), Gustavo Jahn (João), Meve Jinkings (Bia), W. J. Solha (Francisco), Irma Brown (Sofia), Lula Terra (Anco), Yuri Holanda (Dinho) and Clébia Souza (Luciene).
The setting is the city of Recife, Brazil, on a seaside street, much of it owned by Francisco (W.J. Solha), an old-school paterfamilias. Director Kleber Mendonca Filho divides the film into three chapters, effortlessly weaving together his characters while slipping in small details that cumulatively speak of class, race, and the nation’s uneasy past. Beatriz (Maeve Jinkings) is almost always seen in her apartment, an airy setup with all the appurtenances of the middle class. She has certain needs, of course. Just arrived on the street is a private security team, which convinces residents that its services are needed. Viewers know the protection required is from inner demons, not outer ones. That Filho can juggle so many important issues without being heavy-handed or dropping a single one speaks volumes about his strengths. Neighboring Sounds captures the very fabric of Brazilian society, whose seemingly porous hierarchies prove to be prohibitively rigid. —Variety
Trailer
The Spirit Level (still in production)
Director: Katharine Round
Synopsis: Based on the best-selling book The Spirit Level, this film shows why a more equal society is better for all of us, including the rich. Yet still this gap is at its highest level for 30 years. It’s time for action, and a documentary is the most powerful way we can raise awareness and mobilise people.
Contact: http://thespiritleveldocumentary.com/
Trailer
Margaret Haley & Chicago Teachers (2007)
3m; U.S.
Director: American Federation of Teachers
Synopsis: Documentary on Margaret Haley and the origins of American Federation of Teachers in Chicago, circa 1917.
The Citadel: Birth of the LeVeque Tower (2011)
Director: Seth Moherman
Synopsis: Documentary about the building of the LeVeque Tower in Columbus, OH.
Woodrow Wilson Speaking at Labor Convention (1918?)
6m; U.S.
Synopsis: National Archives footage of Wilson at Labor Convention in Buffalo; footage of Samuel Gompers, head of the American Federation of Labor.
THE LABOR FILM DATABASE 