Category Archives: Working Class

28m; Cuba
Director: Pamela Sporn
Synopsis: Takes viewers into the legendary cigar factories of Cuba where we witness the unique tradition of ‘la lectura de tabaqueria’, the collective reading of literature while tabaqueros roll habanos.

Contact: raicescubanas@aol.com 917-921-8678 (Cell)

English subtitles throughout
distributed by Grito Productions: http://www.gritoproductions.com

Description
With a Stroke of the Chaveta is a poetic documentary short (28 minutes) that leaves us wondering where to draw the line between “worker” and “intellectual.” From the middle of the 1800s to the early 1900s lectores, or readers, were an integral part of the world of cigar workers in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Florida, and New York. Through “la lectura,” or reading, communities of cigar workers were entertained, educated, and developed a sense of class solidarity.

The voice of the cigar makers’ beloved lector is but a whisper in most places. How has the tradition of factory readings survived in Cuba?

Con el toque de la chaveta (With a Stroke of the Chaveta) takes viewers into the legendary cigar factories of Cuba to witness the unique practice of “la lectura de tabaquería”, the collective reading of literature while tabaqueros roll habanos. From “lectores” Odalys, Aguila and Gricel we learn about the challenges of meeting the expectations of a knowledgeable and demanding workforce and the satisfaction of receiving the applause of hundreds of “chavetas” in unison. Cigar makers inform us that they can’t imagine working without a reader to accompany them.

Credits
Directed and Produced by Pam Sporn
Camera: Rigoberto Senarega Madruga
Editor: Pam Sporn

Festival Screenings and Prizes
First Prize: Festival del Habano Film Festival, Havana, 2012
Best Documentary Short: Cine Las Americas Film Festival, Austin,Texas, 2008
Festival internacional del nuevo cine latinoamericano, Havana
Maysles Cinema, Harlem, NY
Chicago International Latino Film Festival
London International Documentary Film Festival
Gasparilla Film Festival, Tampa, Florida
Los Angeles International Latino Film Festival

Quote from a review: Pam Sporn’s engaging documentary, Con el toque de la chaveta, provides a revealing contemporary view of a thriving cultural institution, created by and for workers long before the Cuban revolution.
Robert Ingalls, Professor Emeritus, University of South Florida
Co-author (with Louis A. Perez, Jr.) of Tampa Cigar Workers: A Pictorial History

Director: Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin

Synopsis: Shift Change: Putting Democracy to Work is a documentary film in progress by veteran award-winning filmmakers Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin. It tells the little known stories of employee owned businesses that compete successfully in today’s economy while providing secure, dignified jobs in democratic workplaces.

With the long decline in US manufacturing and today’s economic crisis, millions have been thrown out of work, and many are losing their homes. The usual economic solutions are not working, so some citizens and public officials are ready to think outside of the box, to reinvent our failing economy in order to restore long term community stability and a more egalitarian way of life.

There is growing interest in firms that are owned and managed by their workers. Such firms tend to be more profitable and innovative, and more committed to the communities where they are based. Yet the public has little knowledge of their success, and the promise they offer for a better life.

When Shift Change is released this year, the film will encourage support for employee ownership, and provide on-the-ground experience from a variety of enterprises and locations. Screenings are being planned already for several cities, and we expect it to be presented on television, as well as in academic, public planning, business and community settings.

Contact: http://shiftchange.org/