Synopsis: On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Memphis to support AFSCME sanitation workers. That evening, he delivered his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech to a packed room of supporters. The next day, he was assassinated. (NOTE: see At The River I Stand for a 56m version of this issue).
Category Archives: Documentary
I Am A Man: Dr. King and the 1968 AFSCME Memphis Sanitation Strike
I Am Somebody (1970)
28m; U.S.
Director: Madeline Anderson
Synopsis: Striking black hospital workers, mostly women in Atlanta.
I Know I’m Not Alone (2004)
93m; U.S.
Director: Michael Franti
Synopsis: Musician and activist Michael Franti’s documentary on his mission of peace in the Middle East.
Contact: Alex Lawson alex.lawson@gmail.com 847.219.8393 http://www.iknowimnotalone.com/ Guerrilla Management 2180 Bryant Street STE #206 San Francisco, CA 94110 415.865.2170
A bientôt j’espère: Be Seeing You (1968)
38m; Franc9
Director: Mario Marret and Chris Marker
Synopsis: From 1967 to 1976 Chris Marker was a member of SLON (the “Company for the Launching of New Works”). One of several groups that emerged in those years in which filmmakers, militants, and others came together on a cooperative, parallel basis, SLON was based on the idea that cinema should not be thought of solely in terms of commerce. 1967 was also the year an important strike broke out at Rhodiaceta, a textile plant owned by the Rhone-Poulenc trust in the city of Besançon, France. The strike was unusual in character because the workers refused to disassociate the industrial conflict from a social and cultural agenda. The workers’ demands concerned not only salary and job security, but also the very lifestyle imposed on them by society. So it was only natural that Chris Marker, along with other technicians and members of SLON, would visit Besançon to document the strike, and the lives and attitudes of the workers. The film’s most important moments are composed of conversations with workers and their wives. They believe the working class is increasingly at the mercy of a system that gives them no power, a system that would like them to remain powerless. And so it was that their local demands grew into questions about the larger political system. The strikers eventually returned to work with few gains, but had developed a sense of their power, which helped lay the groundwork for May ’68, when France was rocked by revolutionary protests.
Contact: http://icarusfilms.com/new2003/bien.html
I’m on Strike Because (2006)
21m; U.S.
Director: Steve Fletcher
Synopsis: Behind the scenes at the NYU Graduate Student Strike.
Contact: fletch@nyu.edu
If Stone Could Speak (Se La Pietra Sapesse Parlare) [2007]
60m; U.S.
Director: Randy Croce
Synopsis (http://ifstonecouldspeak.wordpress.com): “Thousands of stonecutters emigrated from northern Italy, to Barre, Vermont, “Granite Capital of the World.” This documentary follows the artisans and their families from quarries, workshops and schools in Italy to granite carving sheds in New England.”
If a Body Meet a Body (2008)
19m; U.K.
Director: Brian Davis
Synopsis: If a Body Meet a Body explores the lives and jobs of three unique individuals who are constantly surrounded by death at the busiest coroner’s office in the world.
Website: http://www.ifabodymovie.com/
Igual Que Tu: A week in the life of an immigrant (2009)
Director: Ellie Walton
Synopsis: Documentary about hispanic day workers in DC.
Immigrant Nation (2010)
96m; U.S.
Director: Esau Melendez
Synopsis: Using the resistance of illegal immigrant Elvira Arellano, the film documents the rise of the pro-immigrant movement in Chicago.
Immigrant Reflections: Three Boston College Service Workers Share Their Stories (2008)
50m; U.S.
Director: Susan Legere
Synopsis: Tales of immigration and upward mobility from three Boston College service workers.
Contact: Susan Legere legeres@bc.edu
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