22m; U.S.
Director: Laura Harrison
Synopsis: This films documents the falling fortunes of Thurmond, a coal town. Thurmond was once a thriving community, yet today it stands as a ghost town in the making. It was also the main filming location for John Sayles’ film “Matewan.” This film, directed by Laura Harrison, looks at the history the town, while subtly probing deeper issues about the importance of community and the identity of a place.
121m; Japan
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Cast: Teruyuki Kagawa (Ryuhei Sasaki), Kyoko Koizumi (Megumi Sasaki), Yu Koyanagi (Takashi Sasaki), Kai Inowaki (Kenji Sasaki), Haruka Igawa (Kaneko), Kanji Tsuda (Kurosu), Koji Yakusho (Thief)
Synopsis (IMDB): An ordinary Japanese family slowly disintegrates after its patriarch loses his job at a prominent company.
Contact: Regent Releasing 310-806-4288 info@regentreleasing.com http://www.regentreleasing.com
108m; U.S.
Director: Jason Reitman
Cast: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick
Synopsis: With a job that has him traveling around the country firing people, Ryan Bingham leads an empty life out of a suitcase, until his company does the unexpected: ground him.
27m; U.S.
Director: Willard Van Dyke
Synopsis: This social documentary that premiered at the Steel Workers’ Organizing Committee’s convention in Chicago in May 1940 portrays life in New Castle, Pa., during the Great Depression. Unemployment and poverty transformed the town and its people as automation made its impact in the steel industry. Because of what was considered an anticorporate view, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which funded the film, withdrew it from release and redid the film. Two very different versions, the original director’s cut and the remake, exist.
81m; Germany
Director: Holger Wayman
Synopsis: In May 2005, the Bosch-Siemens workers in Berlin who produce Siemens household appliances were threatened with the closure of their factory and the loss of 600 jobs.
Contact: http://www.videowerkstatt.de/ autofocus@videowerkstatt.de Holger Wayman: howeg@hotmail.de
68m; U.S.
Director: William A. Wellman
Synopsis: Presents a picture of hobo towns of jobless youth springing up during the depression in the US
80m; U.S.
Director: Matthew Barr
Synopsis: In March 2007, unable to compete with cheaper offshore production, Hooker Furniture Company closed its plant in Martinsville, Virginia, after 83 years in operation. “With These Hands” follows the last load of kiln-dried wood down the assembly line as it is cut, honed, and assembled into fine furniture. Along the way, employees at the factory share their perspectives on work, community, and survival in a country devastated by deindustrialization and outsourcing.
Contact: Matthew Barr Associate Professor Department of Broadcasting and Cinema (336) 334-3887 m_barr@uncg.edu
Running Time: 117 Minutes
Country: Germany
Genre: Documentary
Director – Volker Koepp
Screenplay – Volker Koepp
Producer – Herbert Kruschke
Three East German women spend over twenty years at a textile mill in Wittstock only to find themselves jobless shortly after the destruction of the Berlin Wall in 1990. In telling their tragic story, this provocative documentary–begun by filmmaker Volker Koepp and his cameraman Christian Lehmann in 1974 and finished in 1996–offers a critical look at the downside of Germany’s reunification. In 1974, the three women, Renata, Elizabeth and Edith were all young woman working in the Wittstock textile mill. The filmmakers return to the women in 1983. By this time, the women have matured and experienced marriages, divorces and had children. Their hard work at the mill has paid off and each has been promoted. In 1990, following the demise of the Wall, their heretofore contented lives are destroyed when their company is purchased by Fashion Ltd and massive downsizing efforts begin. Women are the primary targets, especially those who make a fuss. Within a year, all three women are unemployed and struggling to find new jobs. The film rejoins them in 1993 and finds that things have not improved. By 1996, the unemployment level has reached 90% and things look bleak for the women, who despite the poor economic prognosis continue struggling to find new jobs. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
8m; U.S.
Director: Workers Film and Photo League of the WIR
Synopsis: Unemployment demo in Union Square in 1931
82m; U.S.
Director: Silvia Leindecker & Michael Fox
Synopsis: This documentary explores two major developments in recent U.S. history. The first is the impact that the September 2008 financial crisis had on ordinary working people throughout the country. The second is the response of working people to the crises affecting them, including their reaction to the government’s bailouts and Obama’s election. Particular attention is devoted to the emergence of progressive grass-roots movements such as the Vermont Workers’ Center, the Green Worker Cooperative in the Bronx, the Santa Fe Alliance in New Mexico, and the Iraq Veterans Against the War. The film’s overall theme is that the recent economic collapse indicates that it is “the people” themselves who must organize and act to bring about greater economic and social justice. Discussion will follow the film, with comments by Occupy Pittsburgh participants and others.
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