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Category Archives: Documentary

The Phantom of the Operator (2004)

20 Apr

A film by Caroline Martel

Canada, 2004, 66 minutes, Color/BW, DVD, French, Subtitled
Order No. W05869
This wry and delightful found-footage film reveals a little-known chapter in labor history: the story of female telephone operators’ central place in the development of global communications. With an eye for the quirky and humorous, Caroline Martel assembles a dazzling array of clips – more than one hundred remarkable, rarely seen industrial, advertising and scientific management films produced in North America between 1903 and 1989 by Bell and Western Electric – and transforms them into a dreamlike montage documentary.

As the first agents of globalization, this invisible army of women offered a way for companies to feminize and glamorize what was a highly stressful, underpaid and difficult job. Not merely “Voices with a Smile,” telephone operators were shooting stars in a universe of infinite progress, test pilots for new management systems, and the face of shrewd public relations campaigns. As the work of operators has been eclipsed by the advent of automated systems, this artful piece of labor history also offers an insightful comment on women’s work, industrialization and communications technology. Refreshing and hilarious, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERATOR provides a wry yet ethereal portrait of human society in the technocratic age.

available from Women Make Movies
 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Automation, Communications, Documentary, Labor History, Women

 

Philips-Radio (1931) (aka The Symphonie Industrielle)

20 Apr

Director: Joris Ivens
36m

Country: Netherlands

An industrial film which shows the operations inside the Philips Radio plant: In a mêlée of activity, glassblowers make delicate glass bulbs. Machinery assists the bulb manufacture. A virtuoso glassblower begins a more complex tube used in radio broadcasting; it is then turned, fired, and sculpted. Conveyors carry partially completed units. Workers perform their various specific assembly-line tasks. Cases are manufactured and machined, wire harnesses are assembled, loudspeakers are produced. As radios near completion, they are run through a series of tests. Engineers and draughtsmen define future developments. In a closing stop-motion sequence, in a style reminiscent of Norman McLaren, a group of loudspeakers performs a playful dance. The film overall is a poetic depiction of an industrial process.Written by David Carless (IMDB)

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Automation, Communications, Documentary, Manufacturing, Technology

 

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The Philosopher Kings (2009)

20 Apr

70m; U.S.

Director: Patrick Shen

Synopsis: Some people we revere, some we despise and others we simply ignore. The figure of the invisible janitor at last acquires a face, name, and personality in this probing look at the wisdom that comes from lives lived fully.

Contact: Premiered at SilverDocs 2009 Eileen Street, The Philosopher Kings PR Coordinator (510) 910-5778 press@transcendfilms.com http://www.philosopherkingsmovie.com http://www.transcendfilms.com

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Documentary, Philosophy, Service Workers

 

Picture Man: The Poetry of Photographer Milton Rogovin (2009)

20 Apr

20m; U.S.

Director: Mark Rogovin (Producer)

Synopsis: Life of world renowned social documentary photographer Milton Rogovin.

Contact: Mark Rogovin (708) 366-5535; markrogovin@gmail.com; http://www.miltonrogovin.com


 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Documentary

 

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Pilebutts, Working Under the Hammer

20 Apr

Synopsis: history of pile butts

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Documentary, Manufacturing

 

Pills Profits & Protest

20 Apr

Contact: OUTCAST FILMS Vanessa Domico info@outcast-films.com Office: 917.520.7392

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Documentary, Safety & Health

 

Pleasure For The People

20 Apr

90m; France

Director: Jean-Pierre Thorn

Synopsis: Tells the story through hip-hop and music of the immigrant Morrocan and African youth in France and the racism that they face.

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Arts/Culture, Documentary, Entertainment Industry, Immigrants/Immigration

 

Plunder: The Crime of our Time (2009)

20 Apr

100m; U.S.

Director: Danny Schechter

Synopsis: A hard-hitting investigative film that explores how the financial crisis was built on a foundation of criminal activity uncovering the connection between the collapse of the housing market and the economic catastrophe that followed.

Contact: http://plunderthecrimeofourtime.com/contact.htm

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Documentary, Finance

 

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Poor No More (2010)

20 Apr

53m; Canada

Director: Mary Walsh

 

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Documentary

 

Porto Marghera-The Last Firebrands (2004)

20 Apr

52m; Italy

Director: Manuela Pellarin

Synopsis: A film about petrochemical workers who took matters into their own hands in the giant industrial zone engulfing Venice. Porto Marghera documents autonomous workers and their experiences from the point of view of the worker-activists themselves. “The mass refusal of literally toxic work forced hours on the job down at the same time as driving wages up. The labour hierarchy that sets white collar against blue, permanent against casual, was attacked by workers insisting on the maximum for everyone. The battle in the factory was linked to working-class life outside through direct appropriation of basic social needs.

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Documentary, Environment, Organizing, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts

 

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