Workers Unite! Film Festival 2020
Films and Directors
American Made: Union Built (22m)
Directed by: Jacinta Filliaci, Spencer Santini, Peng Wang, Jordan Prieto-Valdès, and Dany Zavala
Documentary Short (2019)
A powerful and triumphant look at the union labor movement in New York City, with a focus on construction workers and the "Count Me In" movement.
Anna (15m)
Directed by: Dekel Berenson
Narrative Short (2019) Ukraine
Anna is a single mother in war-torn Ukraine. Desperate for change, she is lured into partying with a group of American men searching for love.
At A Stranger's Table (1 hr 28m)
Directed by: Scott Temple and Sally Jacobs
Documentary Feature (2019)
With tensions high on immigration control, the time is right to introduce the North Carolina east coast migrant field worker to the United States consumer of produce. This documentary introduces two types of hired 'migrant’ workers who pick the US produce: the H-2A visa worker in North Carolina “legally” and the migrant worker who is "undocumented". We follow both groups of people and explore the complex state of their lives, concluding with conversations between the migrant farm workers and consumers during a dinner.
Batay La (25m)
Directed by: Malia Bruker
Documentary Short (2019) Haiti
Today, no society is immune from the effects of capitalism. In Haiti “Batay La,” or the struggle, has been ongoing since before the slave revolution that founded the Caribbean nation. Batay La examines the current anti-imperialist movement in Haiti, led for decades by grassroots workers’ rights organization Batay Ouvriye (Workers Fight). Founded in 1994, Batay Ouvriye is known throughout Haiti as a fierce, uncompromised organization dedicated to overturning the system of exploitation of poor workers.
Betrayal: When the Government Took Over the Teamsters Union (1 hr 10m)
Directed by: George Bogdanich
Documentary Feature (2019)
This is a film about a sustained abuse of power by the U.S. Department of Justice. When mob ties plagued the largest, most powerful union in the U.S., then U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani decided that instead of prosecuting wrongdoers he would use the RICO statute to take over the entire International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Long after the mobsters were removed, 1.4 million union members lost their right of free speech and due process. Interviews include former justice department officials and some of the scores of dedicated union officials who were barred for life for simply talking to others barred for criticizing government control which has lasted nearly three decades.
Blues Del Charango (5 min)
Directed by: Tonchy Antezana
Documentary Short (2020)
Music video about miners from Bolivian singer-songwriter Marcos Tabera.
Building the American Dream (1 hr 15m)
Directed by: Chelsea Hernandez
Documentary Feature (2019)
(Not streaming in October)
Across Texas an unstoppable construction boom drives urban sprawl and luxury high-rises. Its dirty secret: abuse of immigrant labor. Building the American Dream captures a turning point as a movement forms to fight widespread construction industry injustices. Grieving their son, a Mexican family campaigns for a life-and-death safety ordinance. A Salvadorian electrician couple owed thousands in back pay fights for their children’s future. A bereaved son battles to protect others from his family's preventable tragedy. A story of courage, resilience and community, the film reveals shocking truths about the hardworking immigrants who build the American Dream, of which they are excluded.
COVER/AGE (25m)
Directed by: Set Hernandez Rongkilyo
Documentary Short (2019)
The Affordable Care Act explicitly denies undocumented immigrants access to healthcare. While laws in California have now made healthcare available for undocumented young people, undocumented adults continue to be excluded. COVER/AGE follows an elderly caregiver and a policy advocate in the campaign to expand healthcare to include all people, regardless of immigration status or age. #Health4All
Digging Deep (59m)
Directed by: Norma Gregory
Documentary Feature (2018) U.K.
A documentary film sharing the narratives and perspectives of Black British coal miners' work experience in former U.K. coal mines.
Digging for Weldon Irvine (1 hr 51m)
Directed by: Victorious De Costa
Documentary Feature (2019)
A documentary about the life and influence of heralded writer, arranger, composer and pianist Weldon Irvine, Jr. Weldon Irvine's socio-culturally evocative work in music and theater drew appreciation from the likes of Freddie Hubbard and Nina Simone to Mos Def and Q-Tip. The film studies his influence on the Black Arts Movement of the 1970s, the evolution of hip-hop, and the development of some of the most well-known figures in jazz today.
Driving Through the Dark (12m)
Directed by: Kevin Yeh
Narrative Short (2019)
Jack, a single father, struggles with balancing his job as a truck driver and spending more time with his young daughter.
Fall Back Down (1 hr 44m)
Directed by: Sara Beth 'SB' Edwards
Narrative Feature (2020) Canada
A depressed ex-activist takes a job in a sweatshop where he and his coworker make a grim discovery. A Punk RomCom.
Feet On the Street: Dirty Patti at the L.A. Teacher's Strike (5m)
Directed by: Christina Elaine Vasquez and Crispin Rosenkranz
Films from the Frontlines (2019)
She's political, she's a bit inappropriate, and she's a puppet! Dirty Patti, a fixture of the Los Angeles art scene, traverses to a teachers' strike where she interviews those fighting on the front lines for the betterment of the teachers and students of Los Angeles Unified School District.
Healthcare Worker Day of Action (3m)
Directed by: Eloise Sherrid, Yoni Golijov
Documentary Feature (2020)
A nurses day of action at Kingsbrook Hospital in Brooklyn, where they lost 5 co-workers to COVID-19.
Hope Served Fresh: Recovery Friendly Employment (15m)
Directed by: Jessica Vecchione
Documentary Short (2019)
A pizzeria owner in Oneonta New York decides to create a "sober and recovery friendly" workplace, starting a trend that reaches the upper levels over New York State Government.
I, Candy (22m)
Directed by: Candy Kugel
Documentary Short (2018)
(Not streaming in October)
Filmmaker Candy Kugel deconstructs a drawing she did when she was 6 years old to explore her life working in animation.
In Search of Professor Precarious (1 hr 21m)
Directed by: Gerry Potter
Documentary Feature (2020) Canada
A documentary in which the director, a longtime precarious contract teacher, lifts the curtain on higher education's dirty little secret. He travels Canada to capture the experience of precarity and the fight against the exploitation of contract faculty in higher ed. The film tells the stories and struggles of a few compelling characters and groups, while examining the issue of precarious work.
In the Basement There's Some Money (17m)
Directed by: Gianluca Randazzo
Narrative Short (2020)
Three cousins of varying socioeconomic status struggle to divvy up the money their grandfather left for them. Starring Luke Cordaro, Lauren Hines, and Jake Wells ("The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel", "Ray Donovan", "Power").
In the Right Frame of Mind (7m)
Directed by: Veronique Engel
Documentary Short (2020)
Profiles the framemakers of Quebracho in Bushwick, Brooklyn, who work with the best museums worldwide to marry a painting and its frame.
Invaluable: The Unrecognized Profession of Direct Support (44m)
Directed by: Jerry Smith
Documentary Short (2019)
The under-appreciated and under-funded work of direct support professionals (DSPs), the people who support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in living full lives as members of their communities.
Keepers of the House (14m)
Directed by: Rhonda Klevansky
Documentary Short (2019)
Eight housekeepers from hospitals in Durham, North Carolina tell moving and compassionate stories about their special human relationships with patients and the ways in which they believe their work contributes to healing.
LSI: Under Construction (6 min)
Directed by: Frank D'Ambrosio, Shady Saint Music
Films from the Frontlines (2020)
COVID-19 inspired rap music video from apprentice UA Local 1 Plumbers. This project was submitted as part of the Workers/Artists class at SUNY Empire State’s Harry Van Arsdale Jr. Center for Labor Studies, where students are empowered to share a snapshot of their working lives by creating their own short 5-6 min films.
Minör (32m)
Directed by: Matteo Bontempi, Giacomo Mantovani, Andrea Panni, and Pietro Repisti
Documentary Short (2019) Italy
Frontale is a small village in the upper Valtellina, whose inhabitants have handed down for generations the miner profession, the "minör", as they say. The witness of some of the last Italian miners are used to build the narration of a forgotten - but not completely disappeared - trade, where the experience, together with the practical and professional knowledge, still unite today’s workers and yesterday’s in a collective sense of belonging.
Morning, Noon, Night; Water, Land and Sky (17m)
Directed by: Mark Street
Documentary Short (2019)
Archival footage of a scuba exploration of a sunken ship gives way to scenes that explore the working rhythms of the current Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Night Cleaners (24m)
Directed by: Hanna Nordenswan
Documentary Short (2019)
After sunset familiar New York spaces turn into something else entirely; shadowy worlds where only the thoughts of the night cleaners can be heard.
Nightshift Spitalfields (10m)
Directed by: Julius-Cezar MacQuarie
Documentary Short (2020) U.K.
Ali, a Bulgarian-Turkish porter at the London night market, works six nights a week, often on 15-hour shifts, loading and transporting goods. These nightshifts are incredibly demanding mentally, emotionally, and physically. Many workers have families, but it’s almost impossible to have a proper family life or take part in society when on graveyard shift duty six nights per week. These night workers are an invisible group of people who keep the city running with their labor.
Not Going to Hide Who I Am (9 min)
Directed by: Adonis George
Films from the Front Lines (2019)
IBEW Local 3 Apprentice Electrician, Adonis George, gives us a glimpse into his life as a parent, union member, recent veteran, and what it's like to be transgender working in the trades and under the Trump administration. This project was submitted as part of the Labor On Film class at SUNY Empire State’s Harry Van Arsdale Jr. Center for Labor Studies, where students are empowered to share a snapshot of their working lives by creating their own short 5-6 min films.
Not One More Death / Ni Uno Más (6m)
Directed by: Meerkat Media Collective
Documentary Short (2019)
In the last 10 years, nearly 500 construction workers have died on their job sites in New York State alone. Hundreds of New York City immigrant construction workers took to the streets on April 29th 2019, Workers’ Memorial Day (Día de Trabajador Caído) to commemorate their fallen co-workers and draw attention to unsafe working conditions for immigrant laborers.
Out of Order (17m)
Directed by: Brandon Laventure and Cameron Laventure
Narrative Short (2020)
In New York City, 1946, three total strangers board their first-ever automatic elevator. But when it sinks into a dark world of danger and insanity, they must find a way to escape.
Point of Attack (46m)
Directed by: Kathleen Foster
Documentary Short (2004)
Trump’s attacks on Muslims and immigrants have their basis in the Patriot Act and legislation passed after 9/11. This led to the racial profiling, large scale round-ups, detentions, and mass deportations of Arab, Muslim, and South Asian men and the first Muslim registry! Point of Attack (2004) is about that time and the resistance that was mounted by immigration lawyers, students, and community activists. Although the “point of attack” of the laws may have been Muslims, this sweeping legislation, passed in late October 2001, gave the government new powers to increase domestic intelligence gathering and surveillance and simultaneously to decrease judicial review and public access to information.
Pureza (1 hr 42m)
Directed by: Renato Barbieri
Narrative Feature (2019) Brazil
In the 1990’s, a mother looks for her missing son, and finds farms with slave labor practice in the Amazon region.
Raided (36m)
Directed by: Simon Davis-Cohen
Documentary Short (2019)
A multi-part series from The Appeal, Raided uses the largest gang raid in New York City's history as a starting point to examine the consequences of a new era of "precision" and "community" policing practices. In contrast to Stop and Frisk, which targeted large swaths of New Yorkers, precision policing prides itself on singling out the supposed worst of the worst: gang members. Part One explores precision policing’s use of coercive conspiracy prosecutions, the repurposing of old and low-level offenses, and racially disproportionate surveillance. Combining personal stories, archival footage and interviews with experts, this film shows that harmful policing practices that disproportionately target people of color have not been eradicated in New York City. They have evolved. Part Two reveals two major Freedom of Information Act responses, shedding light on the role of private technology companies, and the expansion of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) into domestic policing.
Represente: The Future Is Ours (1 hr)
Directed by: Dario Farcy, Bettina Müller, Joana Splieth, Tina Wilke
Documentary Feature (2019) Argentina
Argentina's social movements generate viable alternatives of economies and human relations within a crisis-ridden, exploitative, neo-liberal and neo-colonial economic system. The film also points out the structural reasons for the severe situation in Argentina after four years of explicit neo-liberalism and examines the influence of the International Monetary Fund and the G20 in the region. At the same time, it talks about the hope for a better future, about alternatives generated by movements that act in the field of feminism, self-managed and cooperative economies as well as ecological and community-supported agriculture.
Rethabile's Story (25m)
Directed by: Darren Hutchinson
Documentary Short (2019) South Africa
The voices of women working in the garment factory in Lesotho, South Africa, who produce clothes for the U.S. market. Let ex-factory worker, Rethabile, take you to the places she used to work, meet her friends, and share her experience in the Decent Work Regulation project. Led from Durham University in the north of England, Decent Work Regulation brings together stakeholders and researchers from across the world - from more than 90 institutions in 25 countries. The aim is to achieve decent work - and Sustainable Development Goal 8 - by making labor rights more effective.
Sea Is Shaking (46m)
Directed by: Nikita Tuzov
Documentary Short (2019) Russia
The city of Murmansk and its citizens who dedicate their lives to hard work in the Barents Sea.
Sheep Hero (1 hr 21m)
Directed by: Ton Van Zantvoort
Documentary Feature (2019) The Netherlands
A traditional shepherd is forced to innovate in a neo-liberal world that conflicts with his idealistic views.
Someluck (9m)
Directed by: Joshua Hanesack
Narrative Short (2019)
Stuck between shifts at his thankless pizza delivery job and crashing on his mom’s couch, Johnny searches for an escape.
Songs of Slavery and Emancipation (50m)
Directed by: Mat Callahan, Yvonne Moore, Joe Johnson
Documentary Feature (2020)
The history and rediscovery of songs written and sung by both abolitionists and enslaved peoples throughout the 1800's. In discovering these songs, we unearth a neglected history of North American slave dissension and abolitionist action. The question of why these songs and ideas were left to fade into history is addressed by historians, musicians, and activists. Ultimately we are left to consider the strikingly contemporary content of these nearly 200 year old songs.
Sophia Dawson: Purpose (15m)
Directed by: Justin M. Thomas
Documentary Short (2019)
The story of renowned Brooklyn visual artist and activist Sophia Dawson. Through revealing conversation and a treasure trove of archival photographs from Ms. Dawson's personal scrapbook, Justin Thomas directs an intimate and powerful portrait of a brilliant young woman determined to use her creative gifts to enlighten and empower her community.
The Gig Economy (1 hr 7m)
Directed by: Keif Roberts
Documentary Feature (2020)
Be your own boss. Work when and where you want. The gig economy promises freedom, flexibility and entrepreneurship to workers, but does it deliver? From award-winning documentary filmmaker Keif Roberts (“Sick School”) comes The Gig Economy, a head first dive into the precarious new world of app based work. Going on the job with workers and interviewing leading authors and scholars, the film illuminates the perils and promise of the on-demand economy.
The Great Postal Heist (1 hr 33m)
Directed by: Jay Galione
Documentary Feature (2019)
Jay Galione, son of a postal worker, investigates the dark corners of the U.S. Postal Service. Across the country, brave employees stand up to injustice on the job and fight to Save the People’s Post Office. A moving indictment of the toxic culture and push to downsize, this eye-opening documentary allows viewers to hear from experts and advocates including Ralph Nader and economist Richard Wolff, and directly from the selfless and courageous people hidden behind the scenes, long suffering and ignored.
The Great Strike 1917 (1 hr 10m)
Directed by: Amanda King
Documentary Feature (2019) Australia
Railway and tram workers strike in Sydney, marking the biggest industrial upheaval Australia has seen before or since. Thousands had stopped working, the government recruited volunteers to break the strike some of whom carried arms, unions were de-registered and union leaders charged with conspiracy; a time of violent emotions, state violence and individual acts of violence by and against strikers - it was Sydney, 1917 and to this day, Australia's largest industrial upheaval.
The International of the End of the World (1 hr 28m)
Directed by: Violeta Bruck and Javier Gabino
Documentary Feature (2019) Argentina
Filmmaker Violeta Bruck begins to tour present-day Buenos Aires, visiting relatives, researchers, and activists who help to reconstruct the historical lives of four young people from Argentina at the beginning of the 20th century: Pedro Milesi, Mateo Fossa, Mika Etchebéhère and Liborio Justo. All of them are of different social origin, two workers, a middle-class student, and the son of the dictator Agustín P. Justo. This diversity comes together in the cultural, feminist, trade union and political movements inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1917.
The Layoff (8m)
Directed by: G-Hey Kim
Narrative Short (2020) Canada
Four Leaf Clover Mart’s Branch Manager told the Supervisor to get her entire team to sign the layoff agreement. The Branch Manager wondered how she got everyone to sign. This is how she did it.
The One and Only Jewish Miss America (51m)
Directed by: David Arond
Documentary Feature (2020)
The surprising story of Bess Myerson, the talented beauty queen from the Bronx, and how she won the world’s most famous beauty pageant in 1945. The film follows Bess, daughter of poor Russian immigrants, from her childhood in a Jewish housing project through the pain of antisemitism when Miss America sponsors withdrew their support and race-restricted tour stops closed their doors. It is also a story of courage as her disappointment turned to determination, leading Bess Myerson on a national tour to fight prejudice and toward her lifelong passion for justice.
The Price of Justice (55m)
Directed by: Ivan Abreu
Documentary Feature (2020) China & The Philippines
Follow four domestic/homecare workers in Hong Kong as they try to pursue cases against their former employers, some falling ill and being terminated, others being abused or working difficult hours. These women are taken into Kafkaesque circumstances as they spend their days in waiting rooms, long queues, and tribunal sessions in a frustrating attempt to get access to justice.
To Be Us: To Work (1 hr 37m)
Directed by: Tosca Davis, Cedrick Smith, Terrance Thomas
Documentary Feature (2020)
(Not streaming in October)
A narrative shattering documentary that holds a mirror to the treatment of Black people in the workplace. This film features participants from a diverse class of professions and disciplines who share a common experience. For many participants, the time of filming was their first opportunity to name and vocalize their pain. Each interview explores recurring themes of racism, misogynoir, retaliation, wrongful terminations, and discriminatory practices from employers. To Be Us: To Work also carefully highlights the psychological and chronic health consequences of racism. The physical act of working is exhausting in itself, but what happens to our body when it’s in a constant state of stress?
Town of Widows (1 hr 26m)
Directed by: Natasha Luckhardt and Rob Viscardis
Documentary Feature (2019) Canada
In a factory town both sustained and poisoned by big industry, a growing group of widows, workers and family members fight for justice in a system stacked against injured workers. Nicknamed “The Electric City”, Peterborough, Ontario, was home to a General Electric plant for over a century. Over time, employees of the plant and their families noticed more and more GE workers dying from cancer. Now, they're fighting for compensation and finding a "conspiracy of silence".
Two Immigrants. One Injustice. (11 min)
Directed by: Jery Kelleher
Documentary Short (2019)
The true story of two Italian immigrants in the 1920s. Sacco & Vanzetti were charged and convicted of capital murder in Boston, sparking worldwide outrage. The crime took under a minute, the repercussions have lasted a century.
Under the Stack (1 hr 12m)
Directed by: Anne Fischel and Lin Nelson
Documentary Feature (2016)
Under the Stack documents the consequences of living and working under a smokestack in TX and AZ, and celebrates citizen efforts to challenge the unsafe working conditions and toxic emissions of ASARCO, the American Smelting and Refining Company. ASARCO declared bankruptcy in order to shed its debts and its responsibilities to clean up 95 sites in the U.S. alone. Today ASARCO is profitable and workers continue to seek answers to the question: What has made our community sick?
Veins of Resistance (1 hr 50m)
Directed by: Joshua Tucker
Documentary Feature (2019) Chile
Narratives of occupations for education, land, and housing. People face the inter-generational traumas of Chile's CIA-backed coup, Indigenous genocides and forced migrations.
Waging Change (1 hr 1m)
Directed by: Abby Ginzberg
Documentary Feature (2019)
Waging Change weaves together two female-driven movements that reveal an American workers’ struggle hidden in plain sight -- the effort to end the federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13 for restaurant servers and bartenders and the #MeToo movement's efforts to end sexual harassment. The film shines a spotlight on the challenges faced by restaurant workers, 70% of whom are women, trying to feed themselves and their families on tips and the growing movement to end the tipped minimum wage, spearheaded by Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC-United). That the federal tipped minimum wage has remained at $2.13 an hour since 1991 is due to the power and influence of a trade lobby, the National Restaurant Association, known as the "other NRA". Through the personal stories of workers in Chicago, New Orleans, Detroit, and elsewhere, we come to see and experience the everyday challenges these workers face in trying to make ends meet, clarifying the need for One Fair Wage in the 43 states that do not require restaurants to pay their workers minimum wage.
We Can't Breathe (10m)
Directed by: Clarence Williams IV
Narrative Short (2020)
A young couple clashes in the wake of a racially charged murder committed by a police officer. Starring Jordane Christie ("A Haunting On Hill House", "Atlanta") and Jasmine Aivaliotis.
Wood Carver: Deborah Mills (7m)
Directed by: Shuming Zhang
Documentary Short (2020)
Deborah’s craft is slowly disappearing – like many other hand-made traditions. But, in taking the slow path, and making beautiful, artistic and practical things for daily life, she’s trying to bring it back.
Work Songs (1 hr 8m)
Directed by: Mark Street
Documentary Feature (2019)
Through interviews and observational footage, Work Songs explores how various workers find meaning in their jobs. The gig economy, automation, and the decreasing power of unions are explored in planned and spontaneous interviews, leavened by finely observed evocations of work places.
SCREENPLAYS 2020
Rednecks
Written by: Chris Jury
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2020) U.K.
The brutal tale of the West Virginia Mine Wars of the 1920's when ordinary miners fought a David versus Goliath battle for their civil liberties in a shooting war as violent as anything that happened in the Wild West.
Community Resources
Written by: Anonymous
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2020) U.S.
A group of rogue cops known as Crash Unit from Rampart division was the most brutal gang in L.A. history until an unsuspecting lawyer with a checkered past stepped up for a bunch of undesirables and brought the corrupt police department to its knees.
Beguiling Dreams
Written by: Fred Stemme
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2020) U.S.
The lives and dreams of the people living in a small town are challenged and changed by disaster and tragedy.