Documentary | THE LABOR FILM DATABASE

American/Sandinista (2008)

30m; U.S.

Director: Jason Blalock

Synopsis: In the 1980s, a bloody civil war between the socialist Sandinista government and US-backed Contras ravaged Nicaragua. Despite the danger, thousands of Americans disobeyed White House warnings and traveled to this Central American nation, determined to lend their skills and labour to the revolutionary Sandinista cause. Blalock tells the story of a small group of controversial U.S engineers who went further than anyone expected, and paid the ultimate price.

Contact: http://www.american-sandinista.com/ jcblalock@gmail.com

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Posted by iwwggrandson on January 24, 2012 in Documentary

American Casino (2009)

24 Jan

89m; U.S.

Directors: Leslie and Andrew Cockburn

Synopsis: Tells the compelling story of the housing and financial crisis. It systematically explains what happened with the banks gambling with, and profiting from, other people’s investments, then the film walks through the housing crisis through the stories of specific people that it affected by fraudulent and discriminatory lending practices perpetrated on them. The documentary backs up to the system’s problems of credit default swaps/hedge funds and the role of the insurance companies and their bailout, and ends with the community and health and human problems this has created for the society as a whole.

Contact: Andrew Cockburn amcockburn@gmail.com

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Posted by iwwggrandson on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Finance

American Dream (1990)

24 Jan

98m; U.S.

Director: Barbara Kopple

Synopsis (IMDB): Chronicles the six-month strike at Hormel in Austin, Minnesota, in 1985-86. The local union, P-9 of the Food and Commercial Workers, overwhelmingly rejects a contract offer with a $2/hour wage cut. They strike and hire a New York consultant to manage a national media campaign against Hormel. Despite support from P-9’s rank and file, FCWU’s international disagrees with the strategy. In addition to union-company tension, there’s union-union in-fighting. Hormel holds firm; scabs, replacement workers, brothers on opposite sides, a union coup d’état, and a new contract materialize. The film asks, was it worth it, or was the strike a long-term disaster for organized labor? Won the Oscar in 1990 for Best Documentary.

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Posted by iwwggrandson on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Organizing, Safety & Health, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts, Working Class

Tags: DCLFF LIBRARY

America’s Ruling Class (2005)

24 Jan

100m; U.S.

Director: John Kirby

Synopsis: Harper’s Magazine editor Lewis Lapham investigates whether America has a ruling class or not

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Posted by iwwggrandson on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Finance

American Standoff (2002)

24 Jan

95m; U.S.

Director: Mira Nair and Kristi Jacobson

Synopsis: The Teamster’s Union goes on strike against Overnite Transportation, a nationwide freight company that has resisted unionization. The union, however, faces its own internecine battles as factions inside the organization, one led by James P. Hoffa vie for power. Produced by Barbara Kopple.

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Posted by iwwggrandson on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts, Transportation

Americans at Work (1959)

24 Jan

15m; U.S.

Synopsis: A series of AFL-CIO promotional pieces on union workers behind the scenes in various industries (Issue 28: Communication; Issue 36: Telephone Linemen; Issue 40: ICBM; Issue 42: Seebees; Issue 43: Aircraft; Issue 45: Shipbuilder; Issue 46: Structural Iron; Issue 50: Television Workers).

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Posted by iwwggrandson on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing