Films and Directors

Adidas Owns the Reality (21m) Germany, Cambodia
Directed by: Keil Orion Troisi and Igor Vamos
Documentary Short (2024)
Program 2 and 5

Prankster activists perform an elaborate hoax to improve conditions for garment workers in the Adidas supply chain. Staging a shocking runway show at Berlin Fashion Week, they use humor and mischief to make the world pay attention to labor and environmental abuses that the massive sportswear brand is trying to hide.

Artificial (21m)
Directed by: Jeffrey Carrillo Proano
Narrative Short (2024)
Program 2 and 5

Alex, an information addict, works her life away in AR marketing. She must choose between competing against generative AI and her creative pursuits. Bumping into a tech free friend reminds her what she truly values.

Bargaining Forward (22m) Canada
Directed by: Colleen Butler
Documentary Short (2024)
Program 17

This bilingual documentary showcases the unity and resilience of 22,000 public sector workers in New Brunswick, Canada, as they strike against wage suppression. It explores strategic mobilization and collective bargaining efforts by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), culminating in a province-wide movement that successfully challenges austerity and sparks labour action across Canada.

Burn Out (13m)
Directed by: Russell Goldman
Narrative Short (2024)
Program 2 and 4

A gonzo, high-octane horror story about the disastrous compromises we make with our bodies and minds in breakneck work environments. Nothing is scarier (or more absurd) than what we can do to ourselves. Starring Everett Osborne (Sweetwater) and Tommie Earl Jenkins (Death Stranding). Produced by Jamie Lee Curtis and Film Independent. Filmed in the abandoned Quibi offices.

Campo de Santana (1 hr 39m) Brazil
Directed by: Peter Lucas and Walter Mesquita
Documentary Feature (2024)
Program 6

There is no park in Rio de Janeiro like Campo de Santana, a constantly evolving place. For two months, we documented the park, talking with both regulars and everyday workers. What we found was not exactly Eden nor was the park as dangerous as its reputation, but a complicated place of beauty. There were scavengers and wandering vendors, people who brought transistor radios every day, saints feeding the animals, and activists protesting the police who came sweeping through the park. There were also lost souls hiding from society.

Construction Workers, Our Heroic Comrades (56m) Greece
Directed by: Giannis Xydas
Documentary Feature (2023)
Program 16

After the end of the Greek Civil War, thousands of persecuted men and women guerrillas fled to the socialist countries or were sent to exile. During that same period, young people migrated from their villages to the cities – mainly to Athens where fear and terror had reared its ugly head – in order to look for a better and brighter future. One of the trades they practiced was manual labor, for example construction work. Construction workers were the vanguard of the labor and working class movement and set a great example of resistance and struggle in a bleak historical period.

Coordinates (6m)
Directed by: Tony Buba
Films from the Frontlines (2023)
Program 18

A four-channel video that immerses the viewer on the effects of corporate decisions on front line communities.

Fire Department, Inc. (1 hr 18m)
Directed by: Colin C. Hughes
Documentary Feature (2023)
Program 7

A suburban firefighter’s labor union finds itself under a different kind of fire when the Village Mayor announces he’s privatizing their department to save money. What results is a five year long legal battle with the potential to change labor law for the entire country.

Foot Soldiers for Democracy (21m)
Directed by: Ann DeStefano Sutherland
Documentary Short (2024)
Program 7

January 6th marked a brutal and violent end to the 2020 presidential election, threatening the peaceful transfer of power and shaking the very foundations of American democracy. But while the graphic images of January 6th remain seared in the minds of the American people, the insurrection isn’t the only story of the 2020 election. Faced with the logistical challenges created by a world-wide pandemic, the nation’s letter carriers became the unsung heroes of 2020. In the midst of uncertainty, they literally delivered democracy.

Fruits of Resistance (22m) Spain
Directed by: Aline Juárez
Documentary Short (2023)
Program 8

Frutos de Resistencia portrays five stories of hope and resistance from the plastic sea in Almeria, the focal point of industrial agriculture in Europe. Through the eyes of women, migrants and trade unionists, everyday experiences of exclusion and exploitation by Spanish society are made visible. The documentary shows powerful perspectives of collective organizing of people fighting for their basic rights in the agriculture industry.

Gumbo Coalition (1 hr 48m)
Directed by: Barbara Kopple
Documentary Feature (2022)
Program 1

Gumbo Coalition follows two visionary civil rights leaders, Marc Morial and Janet Murguía, as they work to empower Black and Latino communities through four turbulent years in America. Directed by two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple, Gumbo Coalition takes us on an intimate — and sometimes humorous — journey into their lives, homes, and the family histories that motivate their united mission to create a more just and equitable country. At a dramatic crossroads in American history, these leaders face some of their biggest challenges: the global pandemic, the murder of George Floyd, and the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath.

Harvest of Light (52m) Turkey
Directed by: Esin Özalp Öztürk
Documentary Feature (2024)
Program 10

Harvest of Light portrays the lives of seasonal workers in Ankara's Evren district. Coming to the capital for the onion harvest, these families grapple with challenges illuminated by a metaphorical beacon of hope, an operating generator for just 2 hours daily. In this brief period, amid labor's chaos, the workers share their stories, symbolizing the never-ending hopes for a better life. The film intertwines diverse narratives, emphasizing labor rights, child labor, women's empowerment, and the universal right to education.

How May I Help You? (15m)
Directed by: Ella Harmon
Narrative Short (2023)
Program 2 and 5

Through a series of vignettes scripted from real phone conversations between call center workers and customers, How May I Help You reimagines fleeting personal encounters between strangers.

In It For The Long Haul (9m) Canada
Directed by: Gavin Stuart Taylor
Documentary Short (2023)
Program 5

Kyle Hayes is a 24 year-old long haul truck driver from Barrie, Ontario. From a young age, Kyle learned the ins and outs of truck driving from his father, Peter. Unfortunately, just as Kyle was making his way into the truck driving industry, Peter passed away. Kyle now drives his late father's 2008 freightliner truck all across North America, delivering many loads and experiencing the world around him.

LCLAA Shorts Series (25-30m TBD)
Directed by: Various
Films from the Frontlines (2024)
Program 18

A collection of 5-6 min long films centered on union life and being a part of the NYC chapter of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA).

Le Malcontente (The Malcontent) (20m) Italy
Directed by: Simona Brambilla and Chiara Granata
Documentary Short (2023)
Program 12 and 16

The history of trade union activism in Piacenza’s Italian textile sector in the ‘60s and ‘70s, told through the voices of the women at the center of the movement, and the images of a generation in struggle.

Limits of Europe (1 hr 38m) Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, U.K.
Directed by: Apolena Rychliková
Documentary Feature (2024)
Program 8

A prominent Czech journalist leaves her family and joins the “cheap labour force” in Western Europe. Undercover, she works at an asparagus farm in Germany, tries her hand as a maid at a hotel in Ireland and takes care of the elderly in France. She experiences first-hand the struggles of Eastern European low-wage workers whose sacrifice and hard work allow for Western society’s comfort. What is the real price that Europe pays for exploiting its own citizens? What do the lives of economic migrants, who have been forced to leave their children and elderly parents, look like? And why are privileged Europeans looking the other way?

Make A Circle (1 hr 29m)
Directed by: Jen Bradwell and Todd Boekelheide
Documentary Feature (2024)
Program 19

MAKE A CIRCLE follows a group of child care providers who are determined to change how society values the education of its youngest citizens. With a mix of humor, outrage, and passion, MAKE A CIRCLE captures the unfolding stories of Patricia, a leader of a new child care workers union, as she fights on behalf of a largely immigrant workforce; Charlotte, another union member who tirelessly lifts up the low-income families in her care; and Anne, the director of a large preschool, who finds novel ways to value and support her teachers when jobs at Starbucks are offering higher pay. Weaving together the magic they create in the classroom, the struggles they endure at home, and their tireless activism for their profession, MAKE A CIRCLE is a moving portrait of life as an early childhood educator and a promising blueprint for fixing our broken child care system.

Mangatha (1 hr) India
Directed by: Jakesh Dalal
Documentary Feature (2024)
(Online Only)

In the changing time of technology and automation, local artistry is declining and communities like the Handloom Weavers are getting diminished. This film tries to shed light on the hardship that the people go through while doing this work and explains the reason behind the extinction of this community.

No Somos Máquinas (We Are Not Machines) (47m)
Directed by: Mark Nistico
Documentary Short (2024)
Program 17

Hidden in the shadows is a Latino workforce that feels they have no voice. Part of a strategy to distance themselves from workers, temporary and sub-contracted work offers little protections and few legal obligations by employers. But these workers do have a voice, and together they are empowering one another to move progress forward.

Out Of Office (30m)
Directed by: Will Roberts
Documentary Short (2024)
Program 3

The story of a scrappy group of office workers in Wisconsin who managed to pull off a major victory for workers’ rights. Upon their contract’s expiration, the workers activated their dormant union and fought back against their employer - a massive financial services provider making record profits. Their fight dragged out for over 600 days and included the first strike in the company’s almost 100-year history, which was the largest labor action in Wisconsin for over ten years.

Paris Olympics (By the Chinese) (30m) France, China
Directed by: DJ Clark and Mingjie Wang
Documentary Short (2024)
Program 9

A documentary investigation into the Chinese people and technology underpinning the Paris Olympics.

Queen of the Road (18m)
Directed by: Laura P. Valtorta
Documentary Short (2015)
Program 6

A glimpse into the life of an independent female truck driver, Milica Virag. From Milica, age 58, we learn about the difficulties and triumphs of a driver – how she got started, her problems with brokers, scheduling hassles, loads that fall through, break-downs, unscheduled stops at the mercy of Walmart, and personal relationships. Many times, Milica has thought about quitting the profession but the freedom of the job and the beauty of travel keep her going.

Relighting the Flame (26m)
Directed by: Carl Kriss
Documentary Short (2024)
Program 18

Relighting the Flame tells the story of how a new generation of workers are defying enormous odds to rebuild and grow America's steel industry, right in the Industrial Heartland.

Revolutionary Song: The Story of Radical Chilean Music and Politics (1 hr 37m) Chile
Directed by: Jared Gilbert
Documentary Feature (2024)
Program 14

The sixty year history of radical Chilean folk music, punk and hip hop that has deeply influenced the political consciousness and social movements leading to the election of student leader Gabriel Boric as Chilean president. This documentary connects the musical scars left under Pinochet's dictatorship against Chile's artistic class and how they formed the soundtrack that led musical and political movements of both Chilean exiles and the children raised in a post Pinochet society.

Senses of Cinema (1 hr 28m) Australia
Directed by: John Hughes and Tom Zubrycki
Documentary Feature (2022)
(Online Only)

Senses of Cinema charts the cultural life of late 20th century Australia through the rise, fall and afterlife of the Filmmakers’ Co-operatives, the passionate individuals who moved through them, and the powerfully independent films they made.

Stories of the Heart of Public Education: Nicole (8m)
Directed by: Thien Dinh
Documentary Short (2024)
Program 1 and 19

K-12 support staff are at the very heart of the public education system, and of the community at large. Yet, they are also some of the most overlooked essential workers. Nicole, a public school cafeteria employee in Minneapolis, shares about her frontline job critical to the well-being of her community, why being part of a union matters, and why she thinks that it’s time for workers across industries to unite and rise up to demand a better world.

Streets of Change (30m) U.K.
Directed by: Judi Alston
Documentary Short (2024)
Program 20

Amid a worsening housing crisis in the UK, Streets of Change exposes the harsh reality of homelessness, where the average age of death is 46 for men and 42 for women. This film challenges public perceptions by bringing to life the stories of "rough-sleepers" and the outreach workers who support them. It explores the complexity of the homeless and urges viewers to see beyond stereotypes.

The Cooperators (36m)
Directed by: Ruth Sergel
Documentary Short (2024)
Program 13

In 1962, the ILGWU (International Ladies Garment Workers Union) threw open the doors to Penn South, the affordable housing cooperative in the middle of New York City. The Cooperators is based on oral history interviews with the first residents of the coop. Their voices weave a story of the vision, struggle and community that have kept Penn South a beacon of affordable housing and the bold possibilities of social unionism.

The Edge of Nature (1 hr 53m)
Directed by: Josh Fox
Documentary Feature (2023)
Program 4

Scientists have come to call the first 6-8 months of the COVID Pandemic “The Anthropause.” During this time, industrial fossil fuel pollution plummeted and, for the very first time in history, world wide emissions were reduced enough to halt climate change. In the midst of the global shut down, Josh Fox, who is suffering from neurological symptoms and cognitive damage from long COVID, isolates himself in a one room cabin in the hopes that his beloved Pennsylvania forest can heal him. During his nine month seclusion he confronts the legacy of genocide and intergenerational trauma that scars the land and his family. His co-stars are a tenacious group of beavers, a young bear mother, howling coyotes and a ton of invasive honey-suckle. Nature may just teach us how to heal ourselves and the lessons of the Anthropause may just save the world.

The Empty Chair (1 hr 26m)
Directed by: Jay Goldstuck
Documentary Feature (2023)
Program 3 and 20

With the goal of improving ever-deteriorating working conditions, young Starbucks workers have set in motion a unionization campaign that has swept the nation. This underdog story follows the predominantly queer and transgender workers behind the union as they navigate victories and defeats and, in the process, breathe life into the labor movement.

The Fuse (19m)
Directed by: Kevin Haefelin
Narrative Short (2023)
Program 2 and 15

A garbageman decides to hang up on life after losing his job and embarks on a journey to find a fuse.

The History of Work (1 hr 10m)
Directed by: Wendy Russ
Documentary Feature (2023)
Program 12

When did we become a society that works so much, and in a way that benefits the workforce so little? The History of Work unravels our modern relationships to work and contextualizes our capitalist work systems by examining how the nation’s past has created a foundation for the present. From early humans to the Industrial Revolution to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ll see how workplace structures and norms evolved into what we experience at work today.

The Interview at Sea (1 hr 11m) Italy
Directed by: Ludovico Ferro
Documentary Feature (2023)
Program 15

An actor plays the helmsman of a fishing boat. His story embodies in one character the events experienced by 42 fishermen interviewed throughout 3 years of field research. Through conflicts and turning points, the staging converses with strictly documentary sequences filmed aboard the fishing boats all over Italy.

The Pickers (52m) Portugal, Greece, Italy, Spain
Directed by: Elke Sasse
Documentary Feature (2024)
Program 10

We want cheap fruit and vegetables all year. No problem. The Pickers deliver, but they are paying the price for us: Exploited migrants harvest our oranges, strawberries, olives, blueberries and other fruit and vegetables in Greece, Spain, Italy or Portugal. This is not “somewhere else”. This is Europe. These pickers are the mobile workforce that fills our supermarkets’ baskets, most of them without contracts or minimum wages, some without papers or with high debts to agents. But it doesn't have to be this way.

The Presidents' Tailor - From Auschwitz to the White House (39m)
Directed by: Rick Minnich
Documentary Short (2024)
Program 13

Martin Greenfield learned to sew while mending shirts for the Gestapo in Auschwitz when he was fifteen, and went on to make suits for U.S. presidents and stars. This is the story of America’s greatest tailor, and the bespoke menswear empire he left behind.

The Shadow Yearning To Fly (54m) Iran
Directed by: Elham Ahmadi
Documentary Feature (2023)
Program 11

Golnoosh is a young painter under intense mental pressure because of the misogyny and discrimination in Iranian society. She is a victim of sexual violence but has remained silent over the years and only expresses her protest in her paintings. She has made the hardest decision in her life, which is to live independently and earn a living with her art. She tries to set up a cooperative art workshop, but fails despite her efforts. After three years, she still fearfully spends each day and night in the streets of Tehran.

Ultimate Citizens (52m)
Directed by: Francine Strickwerda
Documentary Feature (2024)
Program 9

Jamshid, an Iranian American public school counselor, teaches the children of immigrants and refugees in Seattle about life and belonging as their parents are in the grips of their own struggles to make a living. With a Frisbee in hand, Jamshid is the charismatic, fiery, funny human who shows them that "love wins" on the field, off the field, at home with family, or boldly forging a new community in a new country - one kid, chicken, extreme mile and friend at a time.

What Will People Think Of Us? (Qu'est-ce Qu'on Va Penser de Nous?) France
Directed by: Lucile Coda
Documentary Feature (2022)
Program 11

He has been a factory worker, a road mender, a street sweeper. She has always been a secretary. "My parents are worried. Why don’t I have a job after these long and expensive studies?" The director combines autobiographical narrative with fragments of daily family life to convey her journey between dreams of upward social mobility and disappointment.

Working Group (13m)
Directed by: Danny Ortiz Dacosta
Documentary Short (2024)
Program 17

A dedicated group of university students attempt to connect with custodial workers on campus and find ways to help them in this verite style documentary.

Works For All: Cincinnati's Co-op Economy (31m)
Directed by: Mark Dworkin and Melissa Youn
Documentary Short (2023)
Program 13

Since 2011, Cincinnati has been home to Co-op Cincy, a unique network of activists and unionized cooperatives that are building "an economy that works for all." This film visits several of the diverse worker owned cooperatives in the network, many led by people traditionally marginalized in the U.S. economy, and shows Co-op Cincy's remarkable work to transform and provide training and support for these businesses. Particularly significant for the future is the effort to help convert existing businesses where owners are retiring into cooperatives.

Screenplays 2024

Ludlow
Written by: Jake Caddeau and Matt Silverman
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2024)

Based on the true story of the Ludlow Massacre and the Colorado Coalfield War of 1913-1914, the deadliest labor strike in U.S. history.

Shepherds
Written by: Daniel Joseph Lane
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2024)

A crooked lawyer meets a bent judge to discuss shady business.

Two Kinds of People
Written by: Thomas Pace
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2024)

A young woman, yearning to escape her small town, discovers a rare, abandoned car and bets everything she has on her ability to rebuild it.

We Right Here
Written by: Dominic Daniel and Kareem Ferguson
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2024)

A dynamic and engaging queer-centric half-hour TV Show that combines doses of humor, poignant drama, and nonconformity as a genre-blending starting point for an indispensable exploration of sexual/gender/racial identity in the BIPOC LGBTQ+ community in America.