68m; Cuba
Director: Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
Cast: Óscar Álvarez, Mirta Ibarra and Omar Valdés
Synopsis (IMDB): A theater director and script-writer falls for a female worker from the Havana docks, but his machismo, social and working conflicts, and the Cuban woman’s condition interfere with their relationship.
110m; France
Director: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Raf Vallone, Jean Sorel and Maureen Stapleton
Synopsis: Eddie Carbone, a Brooklyn longshoreman is unhappily married to Beatrice and unconsciously in love with Catherine, the niece that they have raised from childhood. Into his house come two brothers, illegal immigrants, Marco and Rodolpho. Catherine falls in love with Rudolpho; and Eddie, tormented but unable to admit even to himself his quasi-incestuous love, reports the illegal immigrants to the authorities.
Director: Richard Ross
Looks at five people working in low-wage jobs in Nevada, Alabama, California, and Florida. Includes interviews with these workers, as well as with Barbara Ehrenreich, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, economics professor Donald Boudreaux, and author Walter Williams, among others.
U.S.
Directed by Roger Weisberg, USA, 2005 (85 minutes)
http://www.pbs.org/pov/wagingaliving/film_description.php
Synopsis: Minimum wage workers struggle to make ends meet.
124m; Italy
Director: Gianni Amelio
Cast: Francesco Giuffrida, Enrico Lo Verso and Rosaria Danzè
Synopsis (IMDB): Turin at the end of the fifties: two brothers have emigrated there from Sicily and the older works very hard to let the younger study and free himself from poverty through culture. The boy however is not keen on school and would like to begin to work. When after some time he gets his degree however things take a violent and dramatic turn
15m; U.K.
Director: Martin Stitt
Synopsis: For Damian, a hard-working, conscientious and caring father, his family is always at the centre of his thoughts.
Contact: Found on 2007 Palm Springs Short Film Fest: http://www.psfilmfest.org/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=19323&FID=31 Sprig Productions info@sprigproductions.co.uk
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
102m; China
Director: Zhu Chuan-ming
Cast: Mao Mao, An Qi
Synopsis: Broad, realistic love story set in a cold winter in a poor outer suburb of Beijing. In the middle of the bustle and the crowds, a clothes seller and a prostitute find each other. But will it make them any happier?
Contact: International Film Festival Rotterdam Production Department: production@filmfestivalrotterdam.com
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
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