Films and Directors 2021

Workers Unite! Film Festival 2021
Films and Directors

#TimeToCare (20m)
Directed by: Ky Dickens
Documentary Short (2021)
Program 17

The pandemic heightened awareness that we all need time to care — and that most of us can’t afford it. Ky Dickens, the award-winning director of Zero Weeks, discovered an interest in an unexpected place: TikTok. The more she looked, the more she found people with zero tolerance for zero weeks of paid leave and an appetite for activism.

2021 NEW Virtual Equity Awards (52m)

Produced by: Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW)

Documentary Feature (2021)
Program 15

NEW's Equity Leadership Awards Luncheon celebrates the women building New York City. For more than 40 years NEW has trained and placed women in the skilled construction trades and related fields, helping them secure sustainable wages for themselves and their families. The women who enter the doors of NEW are changed; they walk out confident and ready to begin their journey in a new career. The NEW Equity Leadership Awards Luncheon recognizes the hard work and dedication of NEW students and graduates as well as those who support them.

9to5: The Story of A Movement (86m)

Directed by: Julia Reichert, Steven Bognar

Documentary Feature (2019)
Program 2

When Dolly Parton sang “9 to 5,” she was doing more than just shining a light on the fate of American working women. Parton was singing the true story of a movement that started with 9to5, a group of Boston secretaries in the early 1970s. Their goals were simple — better pay, more advancement opportunities and an end to sexual harassment — but their unconventional approach attracted the press and shamed their bosses into change. Featuring interviews with 9to5’s founders, as well as actor and activist Jane Fonda, 9to5: The Story of a Movement is the previously untold story of the fight that inspired a hit and changed the American workplace.

A Grain of Wheat in Flames (55m)

Directed by: Lee Hyoung-Joon

Documentary Feature (2020) South Korea
Program 18

Chun Tae-il, a tailor of the Pyeonghwa Market, self-immolated in protest to improve the inhumane working conditions of laborers 50 years ago in South Korea. This is the story of a Christian youth who became a ‘grain of wheat’ by igniting a spark to Korea’s labor rights movement. The documentary also observes the reality of labor in Korea, which has yet to change.

A Little Mess (6m)
Directed by: Jamie Deradorian Delia
Documentary Short (2019)
Program 16

Artist Lydia Ricci utilizes scraps from her childhood home to create miniature sculptures of nostalgic objects.

Afghan Women: A History of Struggle (69m)

Directed by: Kathleen Foster

Documentary Feature (2007) Afghanistan
Program 3

The tumultuous history of Afghanistan from the perspective of the country's female population, this feature documentary chronicles the stories of women who have risked their lives to achieve political, economic, and social equality, from the early 1970s to the present day. The authors of American War Cinema and Media Since Vietnam (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) cited Afghan Women: A History of Struggle as one of only three films that "challenge the dominant ideologies found in contemporary mainstream American war films."

Anyway, Jeff Bezos Can Kiss Our Ass (18m)
Directed by: Olivia Ramos
Documentary Short (2019)
Program 4

Amid NYC's fight against Amazon, Aurelia must decide what it means to be "crazy" in a crazy world for the sake of her neighborhood and her small family.

Apprentice Electricians Citizen Films Showcase - IBEW Local 3 (45m approx.)

Directed by: Various

Films From the Frontlines (2020-2021)
Program 15

For the 5th year, apprentice electricians from SUNY Empire State’s Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School of Labor Studies are empowered to share a snapshot of their working lives by creating their own short 5-6 min films. Using only a smartphone, they are taught how to shoot and edit video in order to depict a personal truth that might otherwise be framed incorrectly in the mainstream media, where stories about workers and their unions are often distorted and not truthful. Our goal is to create 100,000 Citizen Journalists from the labor union side to help balance the stories about workers and their unions.

Archeology of the Workers' Dignity (30m)
Directed by: Uli Stelzner
Documentary Short (2020) Guatemela
Program 14

In neo-liberal times, trade unions and labor rights are increasingly a topic for archaeologists. This film portrays an old trade unionist in Guatemala, delving into shameful working conditions and the devastating consequences of the pandemic.

Backstreet to the American Dream (101m)

Directed by: Patricia Nazario

Documentary Feature (2020)
Program 7

Backstreet to the American Dream is a modern-day look at the classic American Dream, and it’s done through the quintessential 21st Century entrepreneurial endeavor — food trucks! This deep dive into the birthplace of the global phenomenon, Los Angeles, profiles two trucks and juxtaposes the experiences of American entrepreneurs and Mexican immigrants. A bilingual documentary, it takes the audience on a journey, and it depicts the perseverance, resilience, and tenacity of immigrants and first-generation Latino/Latina/Latinx individuals fighting for their place of inclusion.

Bone Cage (90m)

Directed by: Taylor Olson

Narrative Feature (2020) Canada
Program 13

Jamie works a wood processor, clear-cutting for pulp in small-town Nova Scotia. At the end of each shift, he walks through the destruction he has created looking for injured animals and rescues those he can. Adapted from a play by Nova Scotian author Catherine Banks, Bone Cage is an impressive first feature from Halifax actor/filmmaker Taylor Olson that sensitively excavates the tragedy of how young people in rural communities, employed in the destruction of their environment, treat the people they love at the end of their shift.

Boramey: Ghosts In the Factory (60m)

Directed by: Tommaso Facchin, Ivan Franceschini

Documentary Feature (2021) Cambodia
Program 18

Sreyra, Ponler, and Sreyven are three young garment workers in Cambodia. Day after day, they produce clothes for the most important global brands, until something exceptional disrupts their routine: suddenly they pass out in the workplace, an event that is followed by their colleagues fainting en masse. Episodes of mass fainting like these are not uncommon. According to trade unionists and government officials, this is caused by long work hours, high temperatures, and malnutrition. However, workers tell a different story: what happened to them is caused by spirits (boramey), angered by the lack of respect shown by the factory owners. Starting from this enigmatic background, Boramey: Ghosts in the Factory offers insight into the lives of Cambodian garment workers at the intersection of work, religion, family, and spirituality.

Bucky & The Design Science Revolution (106m)

Directed by: Noel B. Murphy

Documentary Feature (2021)
Program 10

This documentary presents the full scope of the inventions of design genius Buckminster Fuller. This is the second in a trilogy of films featuring Jeff Bridges, Jay Leno, Marianne Williamson, and many others.

Committing to Make It Come True - The CISL, the Labour Union (7m)
Directed by: Giovanni Panozzo
Documentary Short (2020) Italy
Program 8

The temptations to stay separated, to reason with the "I" and not with the "we", are just around the corner today, even in the world of work. This is the beginning of a journey into the social commitment in the Labour Union of young and old which tells us that it’s time to commit, all together, to build a better world: a moral obligation to "commit to make it come true".

Company Town (52m)

Directed by: Peter Findlay

Documentary Feature (2020) Canada
Program 23

On the anniversary of General Motors' 100th year of manufacturing vehicles in Oshawa, Canada, the union is forced into a life-and-death fight to save their members' jobs when the company announces it will be shuttering the plant at the end of the next year.

Conversations Between Shifts (30m)
Directed by: Ben Basem
Documentary Short (2021)
Program 23

Conversations Between Shifts is a portrait of Chicagoland ICU nurse Jeanette Alvarez-Basem, captured through the perspective of her son, Ben Basem. This documentary forms a year-long time capsule of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between her night shifts and Illinois Nurses Association union meetings, Jeanette navigates what it means to be a nurse and a human during a traumatic moment in history.

COVER/AGE (25m)
Directed by: Set Hernandez Rongkilyo
Documentary Short (2019)
Program 22

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 for Weldon Irvine (111m)

Directed by: Victorious DeCosta

Documentary Feature (2019)
Program 20

A documentary about the life and influence of heralded writer, arranger, composer and pianist Weldon Irvine, Jr. Weldon Irvine's socioculturally 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.

Dissidents Chapter One: Powerful Enemy (5m)

Produced by: Milla Films & VlopCinema Collective

Films from the Frontlines (2020) Chile
Online Only

In Chile, the strength and spontaneity of the front line are now essential to shield those who demonstrate in the streets in resistance to state violence.

Dissidents Chapter Two: Without Women There Is No Revolution (4m)

Produced by: Milla Films & VlopCinema Collective

Films from the Frontlines (2020) Chile
Program 3

Thousands of women take to the streets to dance and protest against femicides, as well as sexual, political, and social violence. Dissidents is a web series made up of four 5 min chapters that immerse you in the first-person lived experiences of the Social Revolts in Chile that began on October 18, 2019.

Dissidents Chapter Three: 460 (5m)

Produced by: Milla Films & VlopCinema Collective

Films from the Frontlines (2020) Chile
Online Only

During the months of social upheaval and protests, the police branch of the Chilean military shoots at the protesters regardless of their condition. The Chilean state systematically abuses human rights, aiming to blind protestors and erase movements.

Dissidents Chapter Four: Art in Resistance (6m)

Produced by: Milla Films & VlopCinema Collective

Films from the Frontlines (2020) Chile
Program 5

Different expressions, various techniques, and thousands of formats are born and mask the streets of Santiago. Art is reborn in the streets as a political-corporal necessity for resistance, transforming public spaces and bodies into spaces of struggle. Dissidents is a web series made up of four 5 min chapters that immerse you in the first person lived experiences of the Social Revolts in Chile that began on October 18, 2019.

Drills of Liberation (120m)

Directed by: Juan C. Dávila Santiago

Documentary Feature (2021)
Program 9

After experiencing a ten-year economic crisis, and facing the perils of climate change, the Puerto Rican youth does not trust the State anymore. They take to the streets to demand accountability from the government, and organize autonomous community centers to ensure their survival as People of Puerto Rico. The director captures a series of major historical events as they unfolded right at the frontlines, including the protests against a U.S. appointed Control Board, the aftermath of Hurricane María, and the notorious Summer of 2019.

Feet of Earth (22m)

Directed by: Ümit Güç

Documentary Short (2020) Turkey
Program 11

Shoemakers in Turkey, including Syrian immigrants, speak out about low wages, child labor, health/safety issues, and the ongoing power struggle with their bosses. A strike is organized in the end.

For Armetta (5m)

Directed by: Kevin Wilson, Jr.

Narrative Short (2021)
Program 17

To commemorate the one-year COVID-19 lockdown anniversary, we look at the profound sacrifices that essential workers have made since March 2020. For Armetta is a story of loss and reflection that acknowledges we all have an essential story to tell. The Essential Campaign is a national storytelling-in-action effort that spotlights the essential workers who keep our communities and families running.

Frankness (21m)
Directed by: Aviva Skye Tilson
Documentary Short (2019)
Program 4

Frankness is a family portrait, a meditation, a love letter, and a eulogy to the strong, funny, loud Jewish matriarchs of the Frank family. The topics of unionization, love and death are all woven together with archival footage that spans generations to bring these women to life and bind them together in the fabric of inheritance, belonging, and time.

Grinning Skull (21m)

Directed by: Sikivu Hutchinson

Narrative Short (2018)
Filmed theatrical performance
Program 20

Set in Los Angeles in 1946, Black and Latina female washroom attendants wrestle with the decision to unionize, bucking racism, sexism, and class discrimination at the Pacific Electric Railway subway terminal.

Handmade In Bangladesh (76m)
Directed by: Florian Wehking, Liz Bachhuber
Documentary Feature (2020)
Program 14

In short episodes, Handmade in Bangladesh tells the stories of average working people who live in a rich cultural heritage of artisan handicraft and creativity. They invent many ways of recycling in order to make a living out of basically nothing. From the perspective of the affluent West, it's a case of “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” This documentary offers an alternative point of view to the often one-sided, negative media image of this young, independent country.

Haymarket: The Bomb, The Anarchists, The Labor Struggle (83m)
Directed by: Adrian Prawica
Documentary Feature (2021)
Program 8

The Chicago Haymarket Affair, where a bomb thrown into the ranks of Police was followed by an eruption of panic and violence resulting in a trial and execution of presumably innocent workers' rights activists, is examined in this feature documentary film. Expert historians and professors present the history of the bomb, the anarchist movement of the 19th century, and the labor struggle of working people fighting for a shorter workday during the industrial might of America's Gilded Age.

Healthcare Worker Day of Action (3m)
Directed by: Eloise Sherrid, Yoni Golijov
Documentary Short (2020)
Program 17

A nurses day of action at Kingsbrook Hospital in Brooklyn, where they lost 5 co-workers to COVID-19.

How to Form A Union (22m)

Directed by: Gretta Wing Miller

Documentary Short (2021)
Program 1

Willy Street Grocery Co-op workers began organizing in 2019 after management implemented a new attendance policy that was harsher than that of Whole Foods (a corporate competitor in the natural-foods market). In addition, despite a 2017 promise that the Co-op would move towards paying a “livable wage” within two to three years, in 2019 the starting wage rate was cut from $12.40 to $12.10 per hour.

I, Candy (22m)
Directed by: Candy Kugel
Documentary Short/Animation (2018)
Program 4

Filmmaker Candy Kugel deconstructs a drawing she did when she was 6 years old to explore her life — touching on family history, current events and societal norms of the time.

In the Right Frame of Mind (7m)

Directed by: Veronique Engel

Documentary Short (2020)
Program 16

Profiles the framemakers of Quebracho in Bushwick, Brooklyn, who work with the best museums worldwide to marry a painting and its frame.

Last Call: The Shutdown of NYC Bars (59m)

Directed by: Johnny Sweet

Documentary Feature (2020)
Program 17

Last Call explores the impact of COVID-19 on the NYC hospitality industry, including healthcare workers and bars in Astoria, Queens. Thousands of artists, musicians and actors flock to the city’s most diverse borough to work in the service industry to supplement their dreams. In March of 2020, these dreamers put their lives on hold, self-isolating and sacrificing their income as Queens became the global epicenter of the pandemic. As the weeks go by, we follow two local bars fighting off the virus, financial ruin, and the deaths of loved ones, while the frontline workers battle to slow down the death toll engulfing the borough. It’s a tale of two sacrifices that saved not only the lives of thousands but the future of New York.

Limbo (19m)

Directed by: Lotje Sodderland

Narrative Short (2020) U.K.
Program 22

A true-fiction short following the story of Witold, a young, Polish Londoner whose humanity is blunted by the demands of his digital boss, laying bare the hardship of the job of a care worker at this poignant time of the global pandemic. Under-trained and underpaid, Witold speeds from home to home on his bicycle, feeling the enormity of his responsibility as he enters hidden worlds to administer care to a delicate but dynamic assortment of elderly men living alone.

Long Distance (28m)

Directed by: Kiana Rawji

Documentary Short (2021) Canada
Program 22

A Filipino couple in Calgary, Alberta perseveres through a long-distance relationship redolent of the many years they spent apart in the past. Before, international borders separated them. Now, a virus. While Roderick, a Cargill meat plant worker, recovers in the hospital from a COVID-induced stroke, his wife, Norie, summons the strength to support her family. Set against the backdrop of COVID-19 outbreaks among migrant workers across Canada.

Making the Impossible Possible: The Story of Puerto Rican Studies at Brooklyn College (33m)

Directed by: Tami Gold, Pam Sporn

Documentary Short (2021)
Program 9

A short doc about the student led struggle to win Puerto Rican Studies at Brooklyn College (CUNY) in the late 1960’s. This important story highlights the powerful alliance Puerto Rican, African American and other progressive students and faculty forged that changed the face of higher education with the founding of one of the first Puerto Rican Studies departments in the nation.

Night Cleaners (24m)

Directed by: Hanna Nordenswan

Documentary Short (2019)
Program 16

After sunset, familiar New York spaces turn into something else entirely; shadowy worlds where only the thoughts of the night cleaners can be heard.

No Shortcuts to Change (4m)
Directed by: Adrian Rojas Elliot
Narrative Short (2021)
Program 22

The Essential Campaign, a project of The League, presents No Shortcuts to Change, a short film that follows Ramona (Franceli Chapman) a homecare aid who suddenly meets her Fairy God-Person (Sherri Shepherd) who is trying to "change her life for the better" by tempting her with magical shortcuts. Ramona ends up not falling for the high-jinx and tricks because she realizes that she doesn’t need magic to create real change. #CareIsEssential

Parklife (12m)

Directed by: Lillian Xuege Li

Documentary Short (2020)
Program 24

Parklife chronicles life in Manhattan’s Columbus Park, where groups of Chinese seniors congregate on a daily basis. As seasons change and the pandemic unfolds, the park’s seemingly outlandish cultural spectacles and nostalgic performances wane.

Precarity U (13m)

Directed by: Laura Dasilva

Documentary Short (2020) Canada
Program 1

This documentary introduces one of the world’s top Universities’ dirty little secret. Employees at the University of Toronto speak out about work and shine a light on things that need to change. Produced to support the United Steelworkers Local 1998 Casual Unit bargaining campaign.

Sacrificial Lambs (4m)

Directed by: Stephanie Tangkilisan

Documentary Short/Animation (2021)
Program 17

The story of the COVID-19 pandemic on Rikers Island, as told through recorded phone interviews with correctional officers and a former inmate.

Signed, Sealed and Delivered: Labor Struggle In the Post Office (38m)

Directed by: Tami Gold, Dan Gordon, Erik Lewis

Documentary Short (1980)
Program 19

Mandatory overtime, speed-up, and union-busting at the U.S. Postal Service — sound familiar? Here’s how postal workers in 1978 confronted grueling and dangerous conditions: they walked out on a wildcat strike.

Sophia Dawson: Purpose (15m)
Directed by: Justin M. Thomas
Documentary Short (2019)
Program 20

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.

STORMCHASER (27m)
Directed by: Gretl Claggett
Narrative Short (2019)
Program 13

All Bonnie Blue ever wanted was to chase tornadoes with her Dad. But dreams die with time. Now, she’s become a different kind of storm chaser — hawking storm-doors “door-to-door” for her charismatic boss, Flip Smyth: a cult-like father figure to Bonnie and his tribe of young sales bucks. In the guise of “tough love,” Flip relishes publicly shaming Bonnie and his token minority assistant. When Flip pulls a bait-and-switch to avoid paying her commission, she finally challenges him, sending him into a rage as fierce as the funnel cloud that hovers on the horizon. As she realizes Flip’s doctrine of “Flip the Switch!” is just a way to exploit customers, a different kind of switch flips inside Bonnie — unleashing an inner and outer storm of violence.

Tales From the Long Memory (54m)
Directed by: Charles Hall
Documentary Feature (2020)
Program 21

Folk singing rabble-rouser U. Utah Phillips crisscrossed the country on freight trains searching for teachers. He experienced ultimate freedom, no home ahead and none behind but also the works of mercy. He discovered the dynamic struggle of people to organize themselves and demand a quality of life for themselves and those around them that provides bread, yes, but roses too. Tales From the Long Memory follows the people who look to Utah as their teacher now while they continue the work that inspired him throughout his life.

The Coke Cartel (31m)
Directed by: Emily Wilson
Documentary Short (2021) Mexico
Online Only

Experience the dark reality behind Coca-Cola’s world of “happiness” and the extreme methods they use to suppress workers rights and bury the truth, in a narrative of blatant corporate impunity.

The Free State of George Floyd (6m)
Produced by: Flowstate Films, the Center for Work and Democracy, and SEIU-UHW
Films from the Frontlines (2021)
Program 21

Immediately following the murder of George Floyd, the neighbors surrounding the murder site established a police-free autonomous zone. As hundreds of offerings and visitors came to pay their respects everyday, the community began to protect the memorial site; the public art and the offerings. As barricades went up around the streets, the community released a list of 24 justice demands from the city of Minneapolis.

The Great Postal Heist (93m)
Directed by: Jay Galione
Documentary Feature (2019)
Program 19

A postal worker's son, Jay Galione, tells the story of his father, a 30-year postal clerk who was harassed, threatened, and fired for standing up for fellow employees. The Great Postal Heist reveals how the USPS has been systematically dismantled and privatized by the trillion-dollar mail industry and its politicians who seek to raise prices and lower wages. 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 Richard Wolff, and directly from the selfless and courageous people hidden behind the scenes, long suffering and ignored.

The Great Strike of 1983, or How A Small Town Lost Its Edge (6m)
Directed by: Bridget and Riana Johnson
Documentary Short/Animation (2020)
Program 12

A small mining town in Arizona was struck by two catastrophes in 1983: one of the largest floods in history and a strike to end all strikes. In this short stop-motion animation, family members who have mined the Arizona rock for over a century share their story.

The Last Cut (13m)
Directed by: Ben Wang
Documentary Short (2021)
Program 16

The oldest barbershop in Manhattan’s Chinatown is coming to its close. The barbers, all immigrants, have to face their retirement and adapt to this new stage of life.

The Life of A Union Organizer (8m)
Directed by: Gabrielle Rogano
Films from the Frontlines (2021)
Program 2

Gabrielle Rogano, an organizer with the International Association of Machinists (IAM) Union and a student at SUNY Empire State College’s Van Arsdale Labor Studies Program, explains how the IAM’s Organizing Department is helping the Baltimore County Public Library workers amplify their voice by unionizing.

The World’s Worst Oil Related Disaster You’ve Never Heard Of (12m)
Directed by: Gabriela Dematteis / Produced by VICE Media Group
Films from the Frontlines (2020)
Program 6

Deep in the Amazon Rainforest of Ecuador lies the "Amazon Chernobyl", a 1,700-square-mile environmental disaster brought on by oil extraction and production. After a visit to Ecuador in 1993, human rights lawyer Steven Donziger and other attorneys brought a class-action lawsuit against Texaco (later Chevron) on behalf of over 30,000 farmers and Indigenous people from this Amazon region who were affected by this disaster. Through his personal testimony and supporting footage, Steven recounts his experience advocating on behalf of the environment and affected communities and the personal toll this work has had on his life.


This Is Not A War Story (111m)

Directed by: Talia Lugacy

Narrative Feature (2021)
Program 5

This Is Not A War Story tracks a ragtag group of combat veterans in New York whose anti-war art, poetry and papermaking keep them together, despite the spectre of their friend’s suicide and the ever-crystalizing fact that healing from war is sometimes an impossible mission. This hybrid narrative film features a supporting cast of Iraq and Vietnam veterans, as well as their original artwork, poetry, and music — and was produced over three years as an ongoing collaboration with a thriving community of veteran artists and papermakers.

Three Threads (24m)
Directed by: Rohan Rao
Documentary Short (2021) India
Program 16

The Rann is a salt desert that stretches for miles across west Gujarat, India. It is here that Pachan Siju, a traditional handloom artisan, lives and is determined to add his own color to the white landscape through his clothing brand, Three Threads. Being a Dalit and deemed untouchable by the higher caste communities, he cannot a­fford local exhibitions, and dreams of finding funding opportunity in the U.S. This film weaves a story of the hopes and aspirations of an extraordinary artist.

TIED (53m)
Directed by: Tassos Morfis
Documentary Feature (2019) Greece
Program 11

What's the longest you've been unpaid? This documentary captures the struggle of 320 unpaid seamen of the Lesvos Shipping Company - one of Greece's most historic maritime companies - in 2015. With many trapped in the company's vessels in Drapetsona, a part of the Piraeus port, and away from the spotlight, the camera captures their efforts to receive their wages for 7 months, following them from the docks to the Prime Minister's office during the most critical times in Greece's modern history.

Town of Widows (86m)
Directed by: Natasha Luckhardt and Rob Viscardis
Documentary Feature (2019) Canada
Program 12

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".

Veins of Resistance (110m)
Directed by: Joshua Tucker
Documentary Feature (2020) Chile
Program 6

Weaving together frontline narratives from people facing the inter-generational traumas of a CIA-backed coup in Chile, Indigenous genocides, and forced migrations, the film raises pressing questions. What happens when students in over 200 high schools vote to occupy their own schools and use them as protest camps for the semester to demand free quality education? How does it feel to take back your families' Indigenous territory from a multinational company? What does it mean to be a working mother while serving as the volunteer treasurer for a committee made up of 104 families in an urban land occupation, seeking to help each other save the money to move from their hand-built shantytowns into public housing together?

Women of Steel (56m)

Directed by: Robynne Murphy

Documentary Feature (2020) Australia
Program 1

Wollongong, New South Wales, 1980: Denied jobs at the steelworks, the city's main employer, working class/migrant women refused discrimination. Their 14-year campaign for the right to work pitted them against BHP, the richest and most powerful company in Australia. In Women of Steel, they tell their personal stories – from the unemployment line to the factory gate to the High Court. It's an exciting and often humorous story of the ups and downs of a group of seemingly ordinary women, determined to overcome a giant. This is an extraordinary but little known episode in women’s history!

Wood Carver: Deborah Mills (7m)
Directed by: Shuming Zhang
Documentary Short (2020)
Program 16

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.

Yangzhen’s Journey (94m)
Directed by: Chengxu Lan
Narrative Feature (2021) China
Program 24

Nyima YangZhen is a dedicated China Postwoman in the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. She’s also a mother who has a baby to nurse at home. Having worked for several years in the post office, Nyima has grasped her work-life balance — until she receives a job relocation and must leave her family temporarily to take up a post in the rural Yunling township where the locals in the mountainous area need her.

(A few more shorts are being added to the schedule)

SCREENPLAYS 2021

Mr. Buchman Goes to Washington
Written by: Bill Baber
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2021)

An intense courtroom docudrama that recreates the 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee hearing when Sidney Buchman, the Communist who wrote "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", was blacklisted. This is the day that Mr. Buchman, like Mr. Smith, learned that patriotism requires sacrifice.

Planet
Written by: David Kirkham
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2021) U.K.

When a young space recruit from northern England seeks the truth about a failed interstellar mission, he becomes stranded in Africa and discovers a new way of life that offers salvation for humanity.

Aliens Wired Me A Trillion Dollars
Written by: Daniel L. Abrams
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2021)

When an Alaskan astronomer discovers aliens’ communications, they employ her conspiracy-debunking husband and her to keep this secret from the world because humanity isn’t ready.

The Everlasting Gift
Written by: David-Matthew Barnes
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2021)

When struggling college student and aspiring music teacher Sharleen Vega lands a part-time position with a local Parks and Recreation department, she’s not expecting to find her destiny and true love. Assigned to direct a holiday variety show at an elementary school the district has given up on (the same school she once attended as a child), Sharleen must come to terms with the grief of her past while bringing hope to a community she feels compelled to fight for.