30m; Spain
Director: Luis Buñuel
Cast: Abel Jacquin and Alexandre O’Neill
Synopsis (IMDB): A surrealistic documentary portrait of the region of Las Hurdes, a remote region of Spain where civilisation has barely developed, showing how the local peasants try to survive without even the most basic utilities and skills.
77m; India
Director: Ashim Ahluwalia
Synopsis: Eye-opening behind-the-scenes look at an Indian call-center.
1m; U.K.
Director: Gary Williams
Synopsis: An entry for the TUC’s ‘Join a union’ one minute film competition.
52m; Nepal
Director: Lucian Muntean, Natasa Stankovic
Cast: Hari Prasad Rai
Synopsis (IMDB): This is a story of a 17-year-old boy named Hari Rai, who lives in a small village in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal, and his extraordinary journey. Hari is a student. However, he also works as a porter so that he could pay for his tuition and cover his living expenses. Although very young, he already has three years of experience carrying loads up and down the mountain, mostly tourists’ backpacks. This time, he gets a job to carry a huge red refrigerator from the top of the mountain, to the nearest town. We follow Hari Rai on his journey through the fascinating Himalayan landscapes, we discover Hari’s inner life, his thoughts, hopes and dreams and we also get to know the culture and the local people’s way of life in this region. We learn about their relation with the most important aspects of their lives: family, nature and religion. Out of 60,000 child porters in Nepal, Hari is one of the few lucky ones to have a chance of going to school. We can see what it takes for him to get his education.
Contact: http://www.lunamdocs.com/
2:42; U.K.
Director: John Wood
Synopsis: A union can make a big difference to people’s perceptions of a job,” says the TUC’s John Wood, who created the video.
Contact: http://www.youtube.com/user/johninnit Online film
8m; Canada
Director: Kyle Russell
Synopsis: (YouTube) “Litigants and Advocates expose the flaws of British Columbia’s justice system through their own experiences.”
Contact: Available to watch on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ4AwOmevOY
58m; U.S.
Director: Anne Lewis
https://store.appalshop.org/shop/appalshop-films/justice-in-the-coalfields/
Synopsis: This film by labor videographer Anne Lewis documents this militant strike and occupation of the company’s factory. Over 4,000 miners and their families were arrested in this struggle against union busting and the massive use of scabs to break the union and destroy the medical benefits of 1,500 pensioners, widows and disabled miners. Hundreds of state police were involved in escorting the scabs in this effort. The union also faced a $64 million dollar fine from State and Federal judges that was used to weaken the union nationally and was supported by Clinton’s NLRB Chair Bill Gould.
120m; Belguim
Director: Thierry Michel
Synopsis: After Mobutu, King of Zaire and Congo River, the Belgian director Thierry Michel pursues his exploration of Central Africa. His new documentary, entitled Katanga Business, is a kind of political economic thriller, which takes place in this south-eastern province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the world’s richest regions in mining resources. While the inhabitants of Katanga continue to live in extreme poverty, multinationals are rivalled by China, newly arrived with its billions of dollars. Staged on economic war, Katanga Business is a tale of globalisation.
Contact: http://ks29982.kimsufi.com/katanga-lefilm/ films@passerelle.be
120m
Director: Russ Barbour
Synopsis: As a Congressman and WV Secretary of State, professor/author, and environmental activist,Ken Hechler changed the face of West Virginia and national politics starting in 1958 when he was first elected to Congress. Highlights include interviews with many celebrities including Senators George McGovern, Robert Dole, Tom Harkin, James Symington and John Brademas.
5:30; U.S.
Director: Stuart Cryer
Synopsis: The strike of USW Local 6500 against Vale-INCO is into its sixth month. The strikers’ kids want to deliver their Xmas cards to Vale-INCO, but are left hanging at the company gates.
Contact: Stuart Cryer terraV@cyberbeach.net http://www.vimeo.com/8228584
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