Films and Directors 2018

83-85 Bowery, Manhattan Chinatown (5 min)
Directed by: Zishun Ning
Documentary Short (2018)
Programs 1 & 2

This fast paced short details the fight between long time residents of a small apartment building in Chinatown, having to contend with both gross negligence by the city as well as the greedy actions of their slum landlord, who tries to force them out.

A Silent Transformation (70 min)
Directed by: Simon Brothers, Luke Mistruzzi, Mark Preston, & Anton Smolski
Documentary Feature (2017) Canada
Program 32

A film about the transformative power of the co-operative model.  The co-operative movement was built by people who took on the responsibility for their collective well-being in the face of government neglect, economic exclusion and cultural discrimination. As the modern economy increasingly denies vast sectors of the population basic amenities for decent life, this co-operative spirit is as critical as ever.  However, over the years the co-op sector has become insular and poorly understood.  A Silent Transformation sets out to explore the innovative self-help efforts of diverse communities across the Province of Ontario, which by addressing their needs collectively are helping to regain the radical vision of co-operation. In these communities are the seeds of economic democracy, global solidarity, and a new popular movement to transform society!  Will it grow and flourish?

A Strike And An Uprising (In Texas) (66 min)
Directed by: Anne Lewis
Documentary Feature (2018)
Program 10

In 1938, Emma Tenayuca led ten thousand San Antonio pecan shellers' in a massive strike – the birth of the Chicano movement denied because of its iconic communist leader. In 1987, workers organized a march of 3,000 through the streets of Nacogdoches - a largely unknown epiphany for black women in Texas. “A Strike and an Uprising (in Texas)” explores both events, using the methods of oral history including myth and humor, and relates these stories strongly to contemporary ideas and events including the removal of the Jefferson Davis statue at UT-Austin. The resulting documentary recovers stories of working people in Texas and demonstrates the power of labor and liberation.

Adios Amor - The Search for Maria Moreno (58 min)
Directed by: Laurie Coyle
Documentary Feature (2017)
Program 7

The discovery of lost photographs sparks the search for a hero that history forgot—Maria Moreno, a migrant mother driven by her children's hunger to speak out.  Years before Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta launched the United Farm Workers, Maria picked up the only weapon she had—her voice—and became an outspoken leader in an era when women were relegated to the background. The first farm worker woman in America to be hired as a union organizer, Maria's story was silenced and her legacy buried—until now.

Afghan Coal (25 min)
Directed by: Zeynep Kececiler
Documentary Short (2018) Afghanistan
Program 6

The tragedy of children forced to work in the coal mines of Tur/Samangan Afghanistan, a place unheard to many.

American Courtesans (86 min)
Directed by: James Johnson
Documentary Feature (2013)
Program 5

A modern day documentary about the lives of American sex workers from inside the industry. American Courtesans is an intimate portrayal of modern day escorts in America. In our own words we discuss our lives, the events that led us into our profession, and the reasons we stay. We welcome you into our world for a brief moment and will be candid and honest about what life is like for us; each of us willing to offer up our life experiences. We only ask that you listen with an open mind, and allow us to show you who we are.

Belonging: The Truth Behind the Headlines (89 min)
Directed by: Morag Livingstone
Documentary Feature (2017) U.K.
Program 24

An investigative feature documentary film about where power lies in the U.K.  Re-looking at events around 3 industrial disputes, 3 governments and over 3 decades we show the impact of government and corporate power on democracy and human rights in the U.K.  In this film there are many reveals - not least a secret government plan to destroy community and collectivism. The documents we have found prove what has long been suspected by many but not proven - until now. Through heart rendering personal stories from those at the center of these industrial disputes, we show the impact of the actions of those in power on individuals and communities - but also question what lies ahead. Power: "who has it, and what do they do with it” is as relevant today as it ever was.

Berta Didn't Die, She Multiplied! (10 min)
Directed by: Sam Vinal
Documentary Short (2017) Honduras
Programs 8, 20, 25, & 32

In Honduras, the most dangerous country in the world to be a land defender, Berta Cáceres’ death has not silenced the many campesinxs fighting for justice, Indigenous Sovereignty, and the planet. Instead her murder inspired an international movement whose powerful chants have spread across the globe: “Berta Didn’t Die, She Multiplied!” From 2010 to 2017, 124 environmental leaders were assassinated for defending the environment and Indigenous rights in Honduras. This is the story of those who will not surrender. This poignant and heart wrenching account of the legacy of Berta Cáceres—fearless world renowned Indigenous leader—exposes the brutality of the fight to privatize mother earth. But even through death, Berta could not be silenced. Berta’s struggle is universal and her murder ignited an international movement for justice that resounds around the world.

Bottom Dollars (55 min)
Directed by: Jordan Melograna
Documentary Feature (2016)
Program 13

When the Fair Labor Standards Act passed in 1938, it included a revolutionary civil rights protection: a minimum wage. American workers could no longer be exploited for their hard work – with one huge exception. Section 14(c) of the Act included an exemption allowing some workers, people with disabilities, to be paid less than minimum wage.  This provision was originally designed to persuade employers to hire people with disabilities and open up opportunities. Instead, people with disabilities were often employed in “sheltered workshops,” segregated workplaces away from their communities, earning sub-minimum wage. 78 years later, 14(c) remains in effect.  In 2016, nearly 250,000 people are legally paid less than the minimum wage, on average, less than $2 an hour. “Bottom Dollars” is an hour long documentary that exposes the exploitation of people with disabilities through personal stories and expert interviews. It also presents clear employment alternatives with competitive wages and community inclusion.

Bullies (5 min)
Produced by: Corporate Campaign, Inc.
Narrative Short (2017)
Programs 1 & 2

Sharply worded commentary on how the Real Estate Board of NY (REBNY) seems to conspire to keep rents high, pocket taxpayer money aimed at building affordable housing and allows unsafe working conditions through use of non-union and temp labor.

Call Mr. Robeson (80 min, No Intermission)
Directed by Olusola Oyeleye
Written, performed, and produced by Tayo Aluko
Theatrical Performance (2012)
Programs 17, 18, & 19

A one-man play and musical retrospective based on the life of actor, singer, and progressive activist, Paul Robeson.  Paul Robeson is a great and famous actor, singer and civil rights campaigner. When over the years he gets progressively too radical and outspoken for the establishment’s liking, he is branded a traitor to his country, harassed, and denied opportunities to perform or travel.  Just as physical, emotional and mental stress threaten to push him over the fine line between genius and madness, he is summoned to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee, to give the most difficult and important performance of his career.  This roller-coaster journey through Robeson’s remarkable and eventful life highlights how his pioneering and heroic (but largely forgotten) political activism led many to describe him as the forerunner of the civil rights movement.  It features much fiery oratory and some of his famous songs, including a dramatic rendition of Ol’ Man River.

Charlie vs Goliath (75 min)
Directed by: Reed Lindsay
Documentary Feature (2016)
Program 12

In a presidential election year that is defined by scores of angry voters railing against establishment politics, Charlie Hardy's political journey running for the US Senate in Wyoming is that of the ultimate outsider. A former educator and Catholic priest who lived in a cardboard shack in a Venezuelan barrio for a decade, Charlie cobbles together a band of misfits to run a Quixotic campaign as a Democrat against three-term Republican incumbent Mike Enzi. "Charlie vs Goliath" follows Charlie's hilarious, revealing and ultimately poignant journey across one of the most conservative states in the country.

Complicit (89 min)
Directed by: Heather White & Lynn Zhang
Documentary Feature (2017) China
Programs 14 & 23

Shot below the radar, COMPLICIT follows the journey of Chinese factory migrant worker-turned-activist Yi Yeting, who takes his fight against the global electronic industry from his hospital bed to the international stage. While battling his own work-induced leukemia, Yi Yeting teaches himself labor law in order to prepare a legal challenge against his former employers. But the struggle to defend the lives of millions of Chinese people from becoming terminally ill due to working conditions necessitates confrontation with some of the world’s largest brands including Apple and Samsung.

Creative Feds (15 min)
Directed by: Erica Ginsberg & Leon Gerskovic
Documentary Short (2017)
Programs 11, 25, & 26

Civil servants by day.  Artists by night and weekend.  Go beyond the stereotype of the "faceless bureaucrat" by meeting two federal workers who are as dedicated to public service as they are to their music.

Dear Walmart (90 min, Work In Progress)
Directed by: Michael Blain & Kiley Krasouskas
Documentary Feature (2018)
Program 21

In community after community, Walmart workers are standing up, mobilizing, and working together to improve conditions in their stores. That process – the very act of standing up and speaking out and organizing for change – has profound and transformational effects upon these workers, their workplaces and their families.

Detroit 48202: Conversations Along A Postal Route (60 min, Sneak Preview Version)
Directed by: Pamela Sporn
Documentary Feature (2018)
Program 25

A feature documentary that examines the rise, demise, and contested resurgence of Detroit through the lens of African-American mail carrier, Wendell Watkins, and the community of committed residents he faithfully served for thirty years.  We take a journey with Wendell along his route, which winds through the center of what was, once upon a time, a vital and thriving city.  We listen in on his conversations with his customers - the resilient Detroiters who share stories of resistance: pushing back against racial segregation in housing; challenging industrial and political disinvestment; and living on reduced pensions as a result of the municipal bankruptcy.  Our characters also share stories of hope and propose creative ways to re-imagine an inclusive, productive, equitable and re-invigorated city.  We also meet legendary labor organizer, General Baker, Historian Thomas Sugrue, and Urban Planner June Manning Thomas, who provide a thread of analysis and historical context. 

Digging for Weldon Irvine (2 min, Trailer)
Directed by: Victorious DeCosta
Trailer for Documentary Feature (2018)
Programs 15 & 20

Explores the life and influence of heralded writer, arranger, composer and pianist Weldon Irvine, Jr.

Dirty Laundry (75 min)
Directed by: Conor B. Lewis
Documentary Feature (2018)
Program 16

Why did a 90-year old grandmother and housewife, from a small suburban town in Illinois, die from a rare form of cancer that has only one cause: exposure to asbestos dust?  Her grandsons, cousins Conor Lewis and Zack Johnson, set out on a cross country bike ride with a camera crew and a mission: to gather information on the death sentence disease known as mesothelioma, their grandmother’s cause of death. From California to New York, they interview surviving family members, doctors, activists and members of communities still living with active, toxic asbestos sites. The documentary reveals the stark reality of corporate dissembling and apparent disregard for lives lost, and lives still being placed at risk, from the continued manufacture and use of asbestos, the creation of open asbestos waste sites, and the reckless excavation of contaminated ground.

Dolores (96 min)
Directed by: Peter Bratt
Documentary Feature (2017)
Program 8

Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized. Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century—and she continues the fight to this day, at 87. With intimate and unprecedented access to this intensely private mother to eleven, the film reveals the raw, personal stakes involved in committing one’s life to social change.

Freelance Nation (15 min)
Directed by: Dori Cohen
Documentary Short (2017)
Program 4

“No Shifts, No Boss, No Limits” reads a giant billboard in one of the main transportation hubs of NYC.  From adjunct professors to taxi drivers, many people are finding themselves outside of the traditional employment model, with no benefits and little job security. This transformation is further exasperated by technological developments and the rise of the “gig economy”. Freelance Nation explores the other side of the popular “sharing economies” from the perspective of Uber drivers as they struggle to organize for workers’ rights being eroded under the guise of freedom and opportunity.

Gabby Antonio Smashes the Imperialist, White Supremacist, Capitalist Patriarchy! (18 min)
Directed by: Dawn Jones Redstone
Narrative Short (2018)
Programs 7 & 27

A comedy web series about the trials and tribulation of a young woman of color who struggles to do good in the whitest city in America - Portland, Oregon. She wants to change the world, but it’s not quite happening - yet. It’s funny, non-preachy, and sparks important conversations about racism, cultural appropriation, gentrification, and all the ups and down of nonprofit life.

Hasta Siempre, Comandante (14 min)
Directed by: Faisal Attrache
Narrative Short (2018) Cuba
Program 7

Ernesto, a 14 year old barber, wants to get a tattoo despite his father's adamant objection. Living in the shadow of the revolutionary generation's unrelenting Cuban ideals, he must reconcile these values with the reality around him.

Howard Zinn, A People's History Of the United States (90 min)
Directed by: Daniel Mermet & Olivier Azam
Documentary Feature (2016) France
Program 15

With the tremendous success of his book, A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn radically changed the way Americans see themselves. His friend Noam Chomsky says that Zinn literally transformed a generation’s conscience. Zinn talks about those who have no voice in the official History: Slaves, Indians, deserters, textile workers, union men.  Zinn draws us into a story that encompasses the era from the Crash of the Great Depression in 1929 up to 2009. Born into a working-class family, Howard Zinn grew up in New York during the Great Depression. Bombardier in the US Navy fighting against fascism during World War II, confirmed pacifist post-Hiroshima, a teacher committed to the cause of young people fighting for black American Civil Rights, leader of the movement against the Vietnam War, a playwright whose work has been performed worldwide and author of the seminal work: A People’s History of the United States, 1492 to present. This man, whose life spanned the 20th century, offers us an analysis illustrated with exceptional personal experiences and rarely revealed historical facts. 

I Was A Docker, I Was A Seamstress (15 min)
Directed by: Lewis Savarese
Documentary Short (2016)
Programs 27 & 28

An experimental short documenting the labor history of downtown Manhattan. The locations of strikes, boycotts, union headquarters, and residences of key labor figures are juxtaposed with the daily life of contemporary New Yorkers.

IBEW Apprentice Electricians Citizen Filmmaker Showcase (20-plus films, 4-5 min each)
Directed by: IBEW Local 3 Electricians (Various)
Films from the Frontlines (2018)
Programs 29 & 33

The 7th Annual Workers Unite Film Festival and The Harry Van Arsdale Jr. Center for Labor Studies of Empire State College salute the creative and brave apprentices from IBEW Local 3 for writing and filming their own movies, telling the stories of the true heroes and celebrities of this country - our unionized brothers and sisters, who get up every morning to do the hard work that keeps this country going.

Knife Skills (40 min)
Directed by: Thomas Lennon
Documentary Short (2017)
Program 32

What does it take to build a world-class French restaurant? What if the staff is almost entirely men and women just out of prison? What if most have never cooked or served before, and have barely two months to learn their trade?  Knife Skills follows the hectic launch of Edwins restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio. In this improbable setting, with its mouthwatering dishes and its arcane French vocabulary, we discover the challenges of men and women finding their way after their release. We come to know three trainees intimately, as well as the restaurant’s founder, who is also dogged by his past.  They all have something to prove, and all struggle to launch new lives — an endeavor as pressured and perilous as the ambitious restaurant launch of which they are a part.

Lulu Land (3 min)
Directed by: Jacques Servin, Adam Baran, & Eric Rockey
Documentary Short (2018)
Programs 9, 12, 16, & 25

Edie Falco explains how fake Democrats, a.k.a. the IDC, are handing New York State to the Republicans and what you can do about it in this stunning video.

Mark of A Free Society (2 min)
Directed by: Robert Grieves
Narrative Short (2018) U.K.
Program 3

Workers’ rights to organize in unions are a mark of a free society! To better understand, this animation returns to the British industrial revolution and the birth of the world’s first unions. Extreme conditions across rail and maritime industries drove workers to unite, culminating in today’s largest U.K. transport union, the RMT.

Mrs. Schneider (11 min)
Directed by: Michael Matheson Miller
Narrative Short (2018)
Program 6

A man recounts a memory of himself as a boy in 1950's Coney Island.

Nimble Fingers (52 min)
Directed by: Parsifal Reparato
Documentary Feature (2017) Vietnam
Program 14

Nimble fingers belong to the Vietnamese women who work in factories owned by some of the most popular electronic brands. Bay is one of the thousands of young migrant workers. She comes from a remote Muong village on the highlands of Northern Vietnam. Now she lives, with the other workers, in a Hanoi suburb, a district developed around one of the biggest industrial production sites in the world. Every single woman is apparently following a stereotype of tireless work and obedience to keep up with the pace of industrial production. Behind the apparent perfection of these workers, we can see dreams and fears of a 22 years old working girl through the eyes of Bay.

NYSNA Shorts: Year in Review 2017 - Nurses are Superheroes (6 min)
Directed by: Adrianna Hernandez-Stewart
Films from the Frontlines (2017)
Program 9

NYSNA's 2017 Convention focused on theme of the "Patient Defenders" and this video takes an innovative approach to the genre of the year-in-review video.

NYSNA Shorts: Harlem Hospital Murals (6 min)
Directed by: Vicky Du
Documentary Short (2018)
Program 9

For Black History Month, NYSNA nurses in our public health system learn the history of Harlem Hospital's mural preservation project.
    
NYSNA Shorts: Innovations in Organizing: The Albany Medical Center Campaign (2 min)
Directed by: Gabe Kristal, Adrianna Hernandez-Stewart, & Meghana Reddy
Films from the Frontlines (2018)
Program 9

Nurses helped defeat a vicious anti-union campaign to win a landslide union victory through the use of progressive digital strategies.

Pajpaku (5 min)
Directed by: Tonchy Antezana
Music Video (2018) - Bolivia
Programs 27 & 28

A description of the contradictions of the human being, some like those of the traditional Pajpakus that sell herbs, trinkets, etc. with a loquacious cleverness, but usually harmless. When that charlatanism becomes entangled in political, religious and economic power, it is a greater deception.

Picket Line (9 min)
Directed by: Cecilia Aldarondo
Documentary Short (2017)
Program 9

One week before Donald Trump was elected, 700 workers—many of whom were Trump supporters—walked out of the Momentive chemical plant in Waterford, NY, sparking a 105-day strike. In the wake of his win, the striking workers reflect on the election and Trump's advocacy for union-busting legislation.

Resilience At the Roots (14 min)
Directed by: Jake Ratner
Documentary Short (2017) El Salvador
Program 32

This short documentary follows a community in El Salvador who, after fleeing government repression and spending a decade in exile, returned to their country to rebuild their lives in the coastal lowland areas surrounding the Bay of Jiquilisco. But their challenges were not over: in 1998 Hurricane Mitch hit, and other severe storms followed, washing away homes, destroying crops, and burying the community in rising waters. They recognized that these storms were linked to climate change and loss of protective mangrove forests, and so began to organize. Today, the movement they started has succeeded in creating a network of vibrant, democratic communities that protect and restore their natural resources and ecosystems, and has grown into one of the most successful global organizing models working for climate justice.

Scenes from A Protest (25 min)
Directed by: Kevin McCarthy
Documentary Short (2018)
Program 10

When the Market Basket supermarket chain Board of Directors fires beloved CEO Arthur (Artie T) Demoulas and replaces him with a couple scab CEOs, 25,000 workers and 2 million customers take it very personally. United, they take a stand: Bring back Artie T or they'll shut the stores down for good, taking their working-class livelihoods and affordable place to shop with it.  Over 5 weeks, their protest takes Market Basket to the edge of bankruptcy and collapse. "Scenes from a Protest" is a portrait of community courage, telling their collective story through a mix of super 8mm film, vérité video, audio interviews, and contemporaneous archival media.

Sink (86 min)
Directed by: Mark Gillis
Narrative Feature (2018) U.K.
Program 3

A feature film, shot mainly in South East London, about a man on zero hours (where the employer dictates what hours are to be worked), who is driven to do something completely out of character (and far outside his normal moral compass) because of the pressures that inevitably follow from that kind of working life. Although it's not all doom and gloom - there is a lot of warmth and humor to it too.  It’s about people finding their way through.  It’s about Micky Mason; a man out there, right now, doing his best.

S|T|R|A|Y|S (86 min)
Directed by: Barnaby Miller
Narrative Feature (2017) U.K.
Program 4

A bold and innovative look at the struggles of Londoners under the pressure of an economic downturn.  Shot on location in London, the unique and ground-breaking “rotoscoped” aesthetic took four years to complete; the director, himself, drawing elements over the live-action footage whilst preserving the nuances of the cast’s performances. Focusing on a group of friends: a banker, a minimum wage worker, a blogger, an I.T. technician, a punk poet, and a businessman, ‘S|T|R|A|Y|S’ explores how a financial decline affects their lives and relationships, and considers wider social issues of isolationism, youth unemployment, housing, and gender and racial inequality. An unflinching and inventive new depiction of modern London, blurring the lines between the real world and animation, ‘S|T|R|A|Y|S’ is “A living graphic novel about life”.

Street Workers Unite! (8 min)
Directed by: Gabriel Diamond
Documentary Short (2017) India
Program 7

India's street vendors and rickshaw drivers are among the country's most vulnerable citizens. For years they’ve lived and worked without legal protections and without access to financial services, and have been subject to harassment by the police, the mafia, and others. NIDAN is working to change all that by organizing them to stand up for their own rights and stop "feeding milk to the snake."

Teacher Of the Year (90 min)
Directed by: Robert Phillips & Jay Korreck
Documentary Feature (2017)
Program 11

What happens when a real teacher tries to become a Hollywood hero? Through a blend of vérité footage, interviews, media clips, and self-reflections, we document Angie Scioli’s struggle to balance her professional, personal, and political life during the tumultuous 2013-2014 school year; additionally, through interviews with media scholars and educational experts, we contextualize Angie's teaching life amidst a complex web of media and sociological forces that impact the personal and professional experiences of all teachers.

Tenants In Warsaw Organize Against High Heating Costs (5 min)
Produced by: WSL/TV Kryzys
Documentary Short (2018) Poland
Programs 27 & 28

Over 70 percent of public tenements in Warsaw have no central heating. So around 50,000 families must use the most expensive method of heating: electricity. Unable to afford the cost of rent, the cost of heating and the cost of basic necessities like food, many tenants must choose among these and take out loans.  In November 2017, the Warsaw Tenants’ Association (WSL) initiated a campaign against the high costs of heating. The most eager response came from women tenants in the South Praga district of the city. Many of these women are single mothers who struggle to make ends meet while working at home and for wages in low-paid jobs.

The 39th (31 min)
Directed by: Laura Fallsgraff
Documentary Short (2015)
Programs 9, 16, & 25

Amidst political scandal and fiscal crisis, 26-year-old activist Will Guzzardi believes that he can mobilize a movement to upend Illinois' dysfunctional political system.  But he chose to run against the daughter of one of the best connected politicians in Chicago - and he establishment is not going to let her go down without a fight.  The 39th follows Guzzardi as he grows up, from activist to politician, and learns what it really takes for an outsider to win - and govern - within a political machine.

The Acting Class (78 min)
Directed by: Michael Wayne & Deirdre O’Neill
Documentary Feature (2017) U.K.
Program 26

When Tom Stocks, a young man from Bolton has to turn down a chance to study at the East 15 drama school because he cannot afford the fees, he sets up a campaign to highlight socio-economic exclusion in the arts. Tom is not alone. Actors from working class backgrounds are struggling to get in and get on in an industry stacked against them. Established actors worry about where the next generation of talent from modest backgrounds is going to come from. Christopher Eccleston, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Maxine Peake and Samuel West are among those who feature in this film talking about the barriers to success. And this is an issue not just for those who see their dreams thwarted because they do not have the ‘bank of mom and dad’ to back them. Who gets to be on our stages and screens matters to all of us. Whose stories get told, what images we have of ourselves, who we think ‘we’ are, helps shape our identities. And that is political.

The Color of Cannes (9 min)
Directed by: Rubing Liang and Zishun Ning
Documentary Short (2018)
Program 28

The world-renowned Cannes Film Festival seems to run a caste system with regards to admission to screenings for various press and others.

The Cost of Construction (90 min)
Directed by: Jordan Ehrlich
Documentary Feature (2016)
Programs 2, 22, & 33

A documentary uncovering a national scandal, where the race for profits trumped the safety of American workers while the country’s top safety agency barely took notice, failing to enforce their own regulations and keep workers alive.   The Cost of Construction investigates the string of controversial deaths in Las Vegas, Nevada during the construction of MGM's CityCenter, the most expensive private construction project in US history.  The story unfolds to reveal a nationwide pattern of ineffective regulations, lax oversight, and dangerous negligence at the highest corporate and government levels, exposing a national safety system in which an average of 12 workers die every day.  Ultimately, this is a documentary about America ... where the ideals of business and labor collide.

The Iron Triangle (81 min)
Directed by: Prudence Katze & William Lehman
Documentary Feature (2017)
Program 1

For decades, Queens’ Willets Point has been the site of an interconnected network of hundreds of small auto repair shops, known for no-frills but inexpensive, quality service. The owners, many immigrants, have persevered despite a lack of city support, but their luck may have just run out. With the Iron Triangle declared a blight and marked for lucrative redevelopment, the working class of Willets Point faces off against gentrification and urban renewal for the future of their livelihoods and community.

The Partisans Of Athens (72 min)
Directed by: Xenofon Vardaros
Documentary Feature (2018) Greece
Program 6

A documentary about the Resistance during the Nazi Occupation of Athens.  Fourteen people recall memories from that period.  It's a film about collective memory, about an entire people’s struggle against Italian Fascists, German Nazis, and their Greek collaborators.  Based on the testimonials of those who took part in the resistance, “The Partisans of Athens” sheds light on stories of struggle from the period of the great famine of '41-'42 to the liberation of Athens.  The 14 protagonists create a mosaic of experiences, struggles and expectations of men and women who chose to stand against defeatism and collaboration with Nazism.  Includes rare archival material, the original music score of drog_A_tek and footage of historic neighborhoods in today’s Athens.

The Sea Is My Brother (30 min)
Directed by: Shari Rothfarb Mekonen & Avishai Mekonen
Documentary Short (2018)
Program 13

The story of the decades-long quest of World War II's forgotten heroes, the Merchant Mariners who took more casualties than any other branch, but who did not receive the GI Bill benefits promised them by Pres. Roosevelt.  Seventy years later, the American Merchant Marine Veterans Association gathered a team of 80- and 90-year-old AMMV members from around the country to "Storm the Hill" and petition Congress for some belated recognition and payment.  It included Gabriel Frank, a colorful, energetic-if-walker-bound Manhattanite who's "been everywhere" and is a passionate advocate for his brother Mariners.

TWU Power of Organizing: Jet Blue Inflight (6 min)
Produced by: TWU International
Films from the Frontlines (2018)
Program 29

Inflight members of jetBlue speak out on some important issues in the workplace that a TWU union contract will help resolve.

TWU Political Takeback (2 min)
Produced by: TWU International
Films from the Frontlines (2018)
Program 29

TWU Policy, Politics, Power: Janus 101 (2 min)
Produced by: TWU International
Films from the Frontlines (2018)
Program 29

TWU Do’s & Don’t’s of Lobbying (3 min)
Produced by: TWU International
Films from the Frontlines (2018)
Program 29

UA Local 1 Apprentice Plumbers Citizen Filmmaker Showcase (20-plus films, 4-5 min each)
Directed by: UA Local 1 Plumbers NYC (Various)
Films from the Frontlines (2018)
Program 30

The 7th Annual Workers Unite Film Festival and The Harry Van Arsdale Jr. Center for Labor Studies of Empire State College salute the creative and brave apprentices from UA Plumbers Local 1 for writing and filming their own movies, telling the stories of the true heroes and celebrities of this country - our unionized brothers and sisters, who get up every morning to do the hard work that keeps this country going.  Congrats on a 2nd year of Frontline Films!

WDI: A Piece of the Dream (30 min)
Produced by: Workforce Development Institute
Documentary Shorts (2017-2018)
Program 12

An uplifting collection of films about the power of education and retraining, coupled with caring and guidance, to turn around lives that had previously been precarious. The Workforce Development Institute of New York State, a public/private partnership, helps to retrain young women, most of whom are the sole breadwinners for their families and bring them from no future minimum wage jobs, to jobs with solid, union pay and benefits and a future where they can raise their families with security and confidence.

We Have Our Ways (15 min)
Directed by: Dawn Jones Redstone
Narrative Short (2018)
Programs 9 & 26

In a dystopic but recognizable America, street riots are common, tap water is undrinkable, and you’re lucky if you get health insurance. Regina keeps her head down to just get by, especially at work. As a customer service rep for Alleviate (“Keeping you healthy tomorrow, today”), she must reject health coverage for desperate callers all day in order to do her job. But when her younger cousin Abigail is in need of a criminalized medical procedure, she must decide what price she’s willing to pay for justice.

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SCREENPLAYS 2018

Orwell’s War
Written by: Larry Bogad
Drama
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2018) U.S.

George Orwell, an ex-cop and unknown writer, goes to fight against Fascism in the Spanish Civil War. The horror and betrayal he experiences there inspire him to write 1984.

Chrome Man
Written by: Christopher Swider
Drama
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2018) U.S.

Work place tensions explode when a misfit sculptor squares off against a foreman who is slipping into madness.

The Monkeypod
Written by: Dane Krogman
Comedy
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2018) U.S.

It’s the summer of 1941 and Deko Muntze who has just turned 18 is torn between staying in the small Midwestern town he has grown up in to take over the family business or to let himself get caught in the draft or enlist for military service. With war on the horizon his inventor Uncle and his somewhat clairvoyant sister along with his soon to be pregnant “girlfriend”push him in every direction but loose.

The Courage to Meddle
Written by: Lawrence Anderson
Drama
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2018) U.S.

The early years of social reformer Frances Perkins, who eventually became Secretary of Labor appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, the first woman to be a member of a President's cabinet. After working at Hull House in Chicago, and in Philadelphia saving immigrant women, she led the Consumer's League in New York in improving working conditions in the tenements and factories. She was instrumental in establishing a living wage, worker's compensation, and social security.

Machismo!
Written by: Maja Ramirez
Drama
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2018) U.S.

A coming-to-the-States, coming-of-age love-over-great-odds story, with a touch of magic and much drumming.

Mancala
Obediya Jones-Darrell
Drama
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2018) U.S.

“Mancala” is a political thriller about the impact of the mining industry on environmental justice for people in Africa & the Caribbean. It could also be the story of any community that has a valuable natural resource.