Films and Directors 2022

 (PDF)

6 Tons of Steel: Building Bloody Saturday (45m)
Directed by: Erika MacPherson
Documentary Short (2019) Canada
Program 16

An Indigenous apprentice Ironworker in a city that for 100 years suppressed the memory of its formative struggles learns his trade building a monument to the streetcar tipped over during the bloody climax of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. He is joined by a colorful cast of fellow workers - activists, anarchists, community organizers, a chorus, a labour historian, and a Winnipeg born, veteran octogenarian Ironworker with fifty-plus years of labor history.

A Future We Didn’t Have (4m)
Directed by: Zoe Beloff and Eric Muzzy
Films from the Frontlines (2022)
Program 22

A profile of Edwiges Luna Osorio, Tamale Maker and Vendor. From the project, "The Song of the Essential Worker".

A More Radiant Sphere (44m)
Directed by: Sara Wylie
Documentary Short (2022) Canada
Program 16

The long-lost story of Communist poet, activist, and Canadian political prisoner Joe Wallace, bringing him to life through archival material, both real and imagined. This hybrid film is shot primarily on 16mm film and weaves together the story of Wallace, the failed Canadian Communist Party, and the filmmaker’s own surprising discovery of her relation to Wallace, despite a distant relationship with her father (Joe's great-nephew). Segmented throughout are stunning folk songs based on Wallace’s writings, performed by award-winning folk musician Simone Schmidt, aka Fiver. The film delves into the limits of history and its records, and how their re-imagining creates new political and personal truths.

A Reality Show (14m)
Directed by: Zoe Beloff and Eric Muzzy
Films from the Frontlines (2022)
Program 19

A profile of Michael Paul Britto, Community Coordinator at Forsyth Satellite Academy High School, Arts Educator, and Artist. From the project, "The Song of the Essential Worker".

Americonned (100m)
Directed by: Sean Claffey
Documentary Feature (2022)
Program 2

The super rich determine virtually every aspect of the lives of the other 90% of Americans. This film examines the hidden struggles of American families, the calculated political maneuvers of the elite, and the long overdue uprising of American workers. With affection for the middle-class and the outrageous attempt to color them as lazy, Americonned explores the question, ‘How do we make sure workers are paid what they are worth, instead of believing they are only worth what they are paid?’

Aparecides (16m)
Directed by: Yvan Iturriaga
Narrative Short (2022) Chile
Program 6 and 19

A young Thai singer performs old Hollywood classics in an exclusive lounge in Santiago, Chile. Confronted by a massive popular uprising in the streets, she is forced to make a choice: escape like the elites she performs for or stay and sing a new song.

BROKE(N) (88m)
Directed by: Michael Schelp and Alan Younkin
Documentary Feature (2022)
Program 9

BROKE(N) offers a revealing look at the challenges everyday Americans face in a world of stagnant wages, increasing inflation, and unpredictable government aid. Set in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the documentary introduces a diverse group of a dozen individuals chosen at random who discuss in intimate detail their finances and their experiences with low-wage jobs, skyrocketing student debt, the dysfunctional healthcare system, and housing insecurity.

Call Taxi (18m)
Directed by: Julian Kim and Peter S. Lee
Narrative Short (2016)
Program 18 and 21

Jason gets in a Korean taxi to catch a 6:30 AM flight from JFK. To his surprise, his father is the driver. The father makes an unwelcome pit stop at a 24-hour Korean supermarket to buy snacks for Jason. When the father and son get back in the car, the car fails to start. A conversation that should have happened years ago occurs between the two men.

Can Capitalism Solve World Hunger? (19m)
Produced by: Second Thought YouTube channel
Documentary Short (2022)
Program 11

We're often told just how productive a capitalist economy is. We produce far more than we need … so why are there still so many hungry and malnourished people? In this episode we'll investigate the real cause of world hunger and assess whether capitalism has the tools to solve this massive problem.

Chinese Laundry (18m)
Directed by: Giorgio Fontana
Narrative Short (2022)
Program 14 and 22

Mong just moved to New York from China to take over the family laundry shop. Both her professional and social lives are affected when she finds out about an affair happening in the building where she works.

Dark Cell Harlem Farm (27m)
Directed by: Alexander Johnston
Documentary Short (2022)
Program 17

Set against the backdrop of the long history of the Texas prison system – from Juneteenth to COVID – Dark Cell Harlem Farm explores the death by suffocation of eight Black men at a prison plantation in 1913. Combining readings of primary source materials and personal reflections by formerly incarcerated individuals, footage of the prison landscapes where the incident took place, and a series of graphical interventions and excavations, the film makes an urgent and uncompromising argument for the impossibility of prison reform and the necessity of prison abolition.

Feed/back (23m)
Directed by: MacKenzie River Foy
Documentary Short/Experimental (2022)
Program 9 and 22

When the restaurant that built them starts to shut them down, one artificially intelligent service bot decides to assemble a body that can house their consciousness permanently. Intercut throughout the narrative are interviews with former food service workers in Washington, DC. The interviews and the narrative work together to weave a story of freedom from the threads of real and speculative events.

Gabby Antonio Smashes the Imperialist, White Supremacist, Capitalist Patriarchy! (Episodes 1-4) (22m)
Directed by: Christian Henry
Narrative Short (2022)
Program 21

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.

Glimmer (16m)
Directed by: Ken Rischard
Documentary Short (2022) Luxembourg
Program 12

Forgotten spaces filled with memories from past lives. Glimmer is a sound immerse journey through the once so flourishing steel industry in the heart of Europe. Told through a very personal lens, the film reminisces on what the industry meant for humanity.

Happy Cleaners (96m)
Directed by: Julian Kim and Peter S. Lee
Narrative Feature (2019)
Program 14

An immigrant story of a Korean American family struggling to run a dry cleaning business in Flushing, Queens. Follow the Choi family as they confront their individual struggles, cultural clashes, and generational divide all while trying to keep their failing family business afloat.

Harry Chapin: When in Doubt, Do Something (93m)
Directed by: Rick Korn
Documentary Feature (2020)
Program 11

The inspiring story of Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter/activist Harry Chapin (“Cat’s in the Cradle”). Chapin sold over 16 million albums and was one of his generation’s most beloved artist-activists who spent his fame and fortune trying to end world hunger before his tragic passing. The film features Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Peter Seeger, Sir Bob Geldof, Kenny Rogers, Graham Nash, Pat Benatar, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Robert Lamm, Richie Havens, and Harry Belafonte intimately reflecting on Chapin’s larger-than-life impact on music and the world including his founding, along with Bill Ayres, of WhyHunger – the nonprofit organization leading the movement to end hunger and advance the human right to nutritious food in the U.S. and around the world.

Helena From Sarayaku (80m)
Directed by: Eriberto Gualinga
Documentary Feature (2021) Ecuador
Program 12

Helena is a 17-year-old student in Finland. She spends her vacation time cultivating the love for her roots by visiting her family in Ecuador. Her father is Swedish and her mother is originally from the Kichwa people of Sarayaku, who live in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon. During her last trip to Ecuador she met with Kichwa leaders who asked her to deliver a message to the world — "Kawsak Sacha" or "Living Forest", an innovative concept in protection and conservation in which the jungle is considered a living being. Helena actively participates in the traditional “Uyantza Raymi” cultural festival. While the news reports that a virus called COVID-19 is affecting the world, she ends up being confined in Puyo, the closest city to Sarayku. From there she learns from the news that 80% of her community has been infected with COVID-19 and that the Bobonaza River flooded part of her village, a natural phenomenon that, according to the elders, “has never been seen before in the history of the village.” She is Helena from Sarayaku!

I Love Stamps (8m)
Directed by: Zoe Beloff and Eric Muzzy
Films from the Frontlines (2022)
Program 22

A profile of Carolin Herrera Ward, USPS Window Clerk. From the project, "The Song of the Essential Worker".

Inside Amazon Labor Union: How Workers Took On Amazon And WON (6m)
Produced by: More Perfect Union YouTube channel
Films from the Frontlines (2022)
Program 2, 17, and 22

We followed the union drive at Amazon's Staten Island JFK8 warehouse from day one. Exclusive footage from inside the early days of the Amazon union drive reveals how workers beat the odds and successfully won the first Amazon union in U.S. history. Amazon Labor Union fed workers, paid bills, stood up in anti-union meetings, and even gave out free weed. More Perfect Union is a new nonprofit media org with a mission to empower working people. Learn more at http://perfectunion.us/

It’s Not Over Yet (12m)
Directed by: Zoe Beloff and Eric Muzzy
Films from the Frontlines (2022)
Program 22

A profile of David Van De Carr, Respiratory Therapist at Mount Sinai Morningside Medical Center and 1199 SEIU union member. From the project, "The Song of the Essential Worker".

La Lucha Sigue (The Struggle Continues) (66m)
Directed by: Sam Vinal
Documentary Feature (2021) Honduras
Program 4

In Honduras, the most dangerous place in the world to be a land defender, the Lenca and Garífuna people are not backing down. They are fighting to uphold their rights and Indigenous and Black cultures in the face of state backed mega-projects and narco-traffickers who seek to assassinate them, destroy their lands, and erase their existence.

Local 1196: A Steelworkers Strike (60m)
Directed by: Samuel George
Documentary Feature (2022)
Program 1

“The old American dream just seems to be gone,” says Walt Hill, a longtime United Steelworkers Union member and the Contract Coordinator for Local 1196 in the decaying steel town of Brackenridge, Pennsylvania. In March of 2021, the steelworkers of USW 1196 struck, citing unfair labor practices. Over the next four months, Local 1196 follows from late night conversations on the picket lines, to fiery debates at the union hall, to the living rooms of the members, themselves. Taken together, this film gives unique insight and access into the daily struggles of America’s blue-collar workers. The film embeds with leaders of a demographic widely stereotyped, sometimes taken for granted, sometimes ridiculed, but rarely given the chance to share their world, in their own words. Local 1196 takes the viewer on the ground as days on strike turn to weeks, weeks turn to months, and union leaders realize they’re playing with a short stack, and against long odds.

Long Haulers (Excerpt) (14m)
Directed by: Amy Reid
Documentary Feature (2020)
Program 15

An experimental documentary that gives agency, voice, and perspective into the world of a female trucker. Weaving together the stories of three truckers, Sandi, Lori, and Tracy, Long Haulers shares how each woman started trucking and what keeps them trucking. Moving between the intimate stories of their lives in tandem with the working conditions of being a trucker, Long Haulers aims to provoke audiences to question stereotypes, sexism, and gender roles not only in trucking, but in the larger workforce of blue collar positions.

Mother of Color (87m)
Directed by: Dawn Jones Redstone
Narrative Feature (2022)
Program 5

Noelia is a whip-smart, single mother of two who pretends to be able to do it all, but she can’t find adequate childcare, her boss won't cut her a break and the ringing in her ear is getting worse. In a tumultuous world where immigrant children are put in cages and protesters fill the streets of Portland, she wants to fight for change, but she constantly has to choose her family over her career. When she finds out she might be losing her job, a family friend tells her that Noelia’s ancestors are trying to speak to her and that Noelia must listen and watch for the signs. Soon after, Noelia is invited to interview for a position that could change the course of her career, but it's the next day and she'll have to find last-minute childcare. As she sets out to try to make it to the interview, the ringing morphs into strange sights and sounds. Noelia senses that something bigger is at play as she works through a series of obstacles to follow her dreams.

Neighborhood Friends (25m)
Directed by: Elcio Cabral Melo and Gustavo Scatena
Narrative Short (2022) Brazil
Program 10

The bricklayer Ronaldo lives in Ubatuba and likes fishing. He is hired by Rocha to build two pillars at the entrance to the street where Rocha lives. When Ronaldo meets Luana, Rocha's wife, Ronaldo tells the couple that he lived there and that Luana and himself were childhood friends - but Luana doesn't remember. Luana invites the builder Ronaldo to a New Year's Eve party and he accepts. Vander, Ronaldo's teenage son, prefers not to attend the party. Ronaldo finds out he has been tricked by Rocha, and he decides to take revenge. Vander, afraid that his father will commit a crime, shows up at the party with a friend bringing some new ideas.

Not Machine Enough (8m)
Directed by: Yvan Iturriaga
Narrative Short (2022)
Program 1 and 19

An aging, sarcastic handyman at a major Bay Area tech company faces a crisis at work and decides to confront America’s culture of disposability – not just of plastic toys and appliances, but of low-wage immigrant workers like himself.

One Driver, One Mic (59m)
Directed by: Krishnan Vasudevan
Documentary Feature (2022)
Program 18

When Uber and Lyft decimated Austin’s taxi industry, a group of immigrant drivers decided to fight back by starting a driver-owned taxi cooperative. However, they must transform themselves from competitors vying for fares to equal citizens within a democracy. Just as the drivers start to gain traction, Uber and Lyft force an election on transportation regulations. The drivers join a grassroots fight ahead of the citywide referendum, as their livelihoods depend on it. One Driver, One Mic chronicles the drivers' difficult journey and serves as a cautionary tale for workers trying to unite in a rapidly transforming economy.

PESCAMARE (60m)
Directed by: Andrea Lodovichetti
Documentary Feature (2019) Italy
Program 20

The life and the soul of fishermen, where the triumph of a lifetime of sacrifices finds its right appreciation in family ties and in the true values we too often tend to ignore or forget exist. The generational tradition, the respect for the sea, the fear and the challenge of man’s adventure, the survival to eat and trade. Nothing is created, nothing is destroyed, and everything is transformed. The ports of small towns, just like the one in Fano, have changed over the years. Yet, their richness has not.

Portolani (56m)
Directed by: Paolo Zitti
Documentary Feature (2021) Italy
Program 15

Portolani is a journey through the port environment, people, and the professions of the sea. Set in the port of Ancona, the Capital city of the Le Marche region, it shows the mood, the atmosphere, and the human and social reality of Italian seaside towns. The camera enters into the daily life of the port, recounting the spaces, the looks of the protagonists, the rhythms of work. It does not explain or describe them, but narrates them through images, colors, times, the lights of dawn, sunset and night, the glances of the portolans, the words of work. The aim is to give voice to an open-air factory in which the professionalism of each sector constitutes the fibers of the productive fabric.

Psycho Corpsie (60m)
Directed by: Steve McGuire
Documentary Feature/Experimental (2020)
Program 10

Are corporations really psychopaths? In this experimental feature, we look at the way monsters like zombies, bee girls, extra-terrestrials, and giant corporations damage community. We watch various monsters come into being, before finishing with a section on monsters going down. This film is comprised of Creative Commons and/or Public Domain materials, with many film clips from The Internet Archive.

Rally For Respect: New School Part-Time Faculty (7m)
Directed by: Douglas Morse
Films from the Frontlines (2022)
Program 1

The New School betrays its progressive mission. Part time faculty face a university running the anti-union playbook: stalling during negotiations, a coordinated misinformation campaign, and the hiring of an anti-labor law firm. Students and part-time faculty speak out and rally for respect.

Room Without A View (75m)
Directed by: Roser Corella
Documentary Feature (2021) Lebanon
Program 13

A thought-provoking gaze at the exploitative working conditions experienced by migrant domestic workers hired under the Kafala system in Lebanon. By combining a multitude of perspectives, the film offers intimate insights into the private lives of employers, agents, and maids. Exposing modern forms of slavery, it also reflects on the role of women and domestic work at large in capitalist societies.

Sacco and Vanzetti (3m)
Directed by: Sara Wylie
Music Video (2022) Canada
Program 11

A poem by Joe Wallace, as performed by Fiver. Featuring Simone Schmidt on guitar and voice, and John Showman on fiddle.

Salaryman (80m)
Directed by: Allegra Pacheco
Documentary Feature (2021) Japan
Program 6

A salaryman in Japan is a white collar worker that devotes his life to his employer. Salarymen’s relentless work ethic helped build the country into the global superpower it is today. It’s 3:00 am, the last trains have left, and the loud hustle and bustle of Tokyo has turned quiet. Costa Rican artist Allegra Pacheco walks through the neon city to find it littered with drunk men in suits sleeping on the street. Some are curled up on sidewalks, others rest their heads on briefcases used as pillows. Only to her foreign eyes this every-day scene seems off, as if she were the only witness to a massacre. In an attempt to draw attention to this "abnormal normality”, Allegra endeavors into a socio-historical journey investigating the strange phenomenon of salarymen. Through performance art, visual documentation, and animation, Salaryman brings the sensibility of the artist into the office world and questions global work practices of modern-day life imposed by capitalism. Salaryman comes at an unprecedented time where the stakes of rethinking our working methods are higher than ever.

See Us Come Together (10m)
Directed by: Alyssa Suico
Documentary Short (2022) Philippines
Program 14

When factories were forced to close operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, an ophthalmic lens workers union ensured mechanisms to protect their workers, ultimately with the goal to change the culture of labor in their factory. While the pandemic turned the spotlight on essential and frontline workers, what was essential to the workers of Optodev was their union.

Semilla (5m)
Directed by: Tonchy Antezana
Music Video (2021) Bolivia
Program 4 and 16

A music video, “Seed”, from Bolivian singer Marcos Tabera, with Oscar García, Ariel Choque, Jorge Salazar, Guimer Illanes (Jimbo), and Alejandro Alarcón.

Spread Thin (19m)
Directed by: Bashirah Mack
Documentary Short (2022)
Program 5

Before 2018, Chelsey Glasson was an up-and-coming manager at a large tech company. One day she heard a senior manager make discriminatory remarks about a pregnant employee. After reporting the incident to human resources, Chelsey’s life changed forever. Each year, tens of thousands of pregnant workers experience pregnancy discrimination. However, most pregnancy discrimination claims go unreported and even fewer claims result in legal action. For Chelsey, fighting workplace discrimination and retaliation means struggling through the emotional, physical, and financial toll of a lawsuit with no end in sight.

Starbucks Is Using Absurd Excuses to Fire Union Leaders (6m)
Produced by: More Perfect Union YouTube channel
Films from the Frontlines (2022)
Program 7 and 22

Starbucks is firing union leaders during elections for increasingly preposterous reasons. One union leader was fired for showing up to work too early. Another was terminated after her co-worker refused to return from lunch. The reasons only get more absurd from there. More Perfect Union is a new nonprofit media org with a mission to empower working people. Learn more at http://perfectunion.us/

Swing State Florida: The Fields of Immokalee (29m)
Directed by: Samuel George
Documentary Short (2019)
Program 7

For decades, migrant workers have worked the fields of Immokalee, harvesting tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, oranges and other produce that is then shipped across the United States of America. Many of the workers are undocumented, and attempting to keep their jobs even as federal migration crackdowns hover over the town. The Fields of Immokalee follows the daily lives of tomato workers, from the 5:00am trips to the parking lot in hopes of finding day labor, to work sessions in the scorching mid-day heat, to child detention centers for migrant youth that have been separated from their families. Via these vignettes, the film offers insight into the most volatile political issue of our time.

Tashi's Turbine (57m)
Directed by: Amitabh Joshi
Documentary Feature (2015) Nepal
Program 3

Set in the grassroots of the Himalayan Mountains, Tashi’s Turbine is an uplifting tale of a small village’s attempt to harness renewable, sustainable energy with the power of the wind. The story begins with the strong friendship between Tashi Bista and Jeevan, who journey from Kathmandu to Namdok with hopes of building a stronger Nepal, one wind turbine at a time.

The Fabricator (7m)
Directed by: Frank Vitale
Documentary Short (2021)
Program 3

A meditation on the life of craftsman Loren “Dink” Stalter, resplendent with images evocative of Hudson River School artists more than a century ago. This is a day in the life of a metal fabricator.

The Glove (4m)
Directed by: Mimi Chakarova
Documentary Short/Animation (2022)
Program 5 and 22

When a 14-year-old immigrant gets a job as a house cleaner, she is faced with the perplexing habits of her American employer.

The Head & The Arms (5m)
Directed by: Zoe Beloff and Eric Muzzy
Films from the Frontlines (2022)
Program 15

A profile of John Agro, Superintendent at Red Hook Container Terminal. From the project, "The Song of the Essential Worker".

The Lost Generation: Outside the Mainstream (107m)
Directed by: William Hooker
Documentary Feature (2021)
Program 8 and 20.5 (Special Encore)

This film is an effort to elaborate on the history of the many musicians of the 1970s whose music has gone unrecognized by a larger audience. Most of these artists have international followings and continue to perform, record, and document their art and their lives. Some of the musicians, entrepreneurs, and listeners featured in the documentary include Michael Thomson, Ken Filiano, Larry Roland, Ras Moshe, Ted Daniel, Dick Griffin, On Davis, Steve Dalachinsky, Craig Harris, Hilliard Greene, Michael Dorf, William Parker, Steve Swell, Iconoclast, Patricia Parker, Andrew Lamb, Marc Edwards, and many more.

The MV Portland (18m)
Directed by: Abi Richardson and Tim Smith
Documentary Short (2021) Australia
Program 7

This documentary tells the story of the MV Portland. It's about Australian seafarers, safest in the world, being replaced by foreign crew at $2.20 per hour. It's pure corporate greed trying to smash the workers. It's about workers fighting back and why they stood up for their rights "and every Aussie battler out there".

The Myth of the "Self-Made" Billionaire (13m)
Produced by: Second Thought YouTube channel
Documentary Short (2021)
Program 10

It’s no secret that Americans love to hear about billionaires. You’ll find them everywhere. They’re on the news (Bezos space launch), have their own TV shows, movies, and even make their way to elected office. Specifically, we consistently give massive audiences to “self-made” billionaires, the people who, unlike the aristocrats and monarchs of yore, didn’t simply inherit their wealth. In this episode, we’re talking about the obsession with so-called “self-made” billionaires, how misleading that term can be, and everything wrong with the myth of the “self-made person".

The Sea Was Never Blue (82m)
Directed by: Adam Assad
Narrative Feature (2021)
Program 21

A snapshot of American life in the 21st century that takes aim at the neo-liberal policies of the last forty years through the lens of a millennial veteran barely staying afloat working through the gig economy. Like a ship lost atop the waves of a raging sea, he tries to find meaning in a society that only sees him as a disposable commodity. Though cynical and close to giving up, he comes to the realization through his ride share passengers that we are all struggling in our own unique ways. Only by getting past our surface-level differences can we hope to make a better existence for everyone.

The Song of the Essential Worker (Various, 4-14m each)
Directed by: Zoe Beloff and Eric Muzzy
Films from the Frontlines (2022)
Program 8, 15, 19, 20, 22, and 24 (main set)

A Public Art Project that celebrates the resilience and diversity of essential workers in New York City. Throughout the festival, we screen 10 of the 14 short films, each of which profiles a different worker who introduces us to their world, their work, and their dreams for the future. The project also involves banners with life-size painted portraits, posters, and a planned wall mural at the Electrical Workers Training Center (IBEW Local #3) in Long Island City.

The Sunsets (8m)
Directed by: Zoe Beloff and Eric Muzzy
Films from the Frontlines (2022)
Program 20

A profile of Sean Heron, Deck Hand at New York City Ferry. From the project, "The Song of the Essential Worker".

The Swan of New York (2m)
Directed by: Yuan Ji
Documentary Short (2022)
Program 3 and 8

This short film depicts the idea of being who you are and shows the struggle of a French dancer, who lives in New York City, trying to avoid other people's judgment and being able to break through from her insecurities, eventually pursuing her dream of being the swan of New York.

The Vanished (5m)
Directed by: Heather White
Documentary Short (2021) China
Program 13

A human rights activist lives in fear after he discovers fellow Uyghurs have been abducted from neighboring countries and returned to China.

The Wisconsin TA Strike (29m)
Directed by: James W. Russell, Mike Oberdorfer, and William B. Pratt
Documentary Short (2021)
Program 7

In March 1970, the Teaching Assistants Association at the University of Wisconsin went out on strike for twenty-four days. It was the first TA strike in the history of the United States. This is the story of the strike that launched the first graduate student employee union in the country, the union that has continued to represent Wisconsin TAs for over fifty years.

Total Disaster (11m)
Directed by: Keil Orion Troisi and Molly Gore
Documentary Short (2022) France
Program 4

Armed with realistic bird puppets, trickster environmental activists pretend to be oil company Total—staging a satirical press conference to introduce "RéHabitat," a program to rescue animals from the East African Oil Pipeline by relocating them to “more sustainable” habitats. Using humor and mischief, they expose a deadly ecological disaster in a zany effort to help #StopEACOP.

UPS Drivers Are Dying Of Extreme Heat (9m)
Produced by: More Perfect Union YouTube Channel
Films from the Frontlines (2022)
Program 2

UPS drivers are collapsing in the street, suffering heat stroke and dying because the company refuses to put air conditioning in their trucks. UPS made $13 billion in profit last year yet won't pay for A/C like FedEx and Amazon already do. This should be a national scandal. More Perfect Union is a new nonprofit media org with a mission to empower working people. Learn more at http://perfectunion.us/

We Are Down Here On Earth Not Up There In Space (8m)
Directed by: Zoe Beloff and Eric Muzzy
Films from the Frontlines (2022)
Program 8

A profile of Renee King, Cashier at Whole Foods. From the project, "The Song of the Essential Worker".

When We Fight (34m)
Directed by: Yael Bridge and Yoni Golijov
Documentary Short (2022)
Program 1 and 19

In the second largest school district in America, 98% of teachers voted to go on strike. When We Fight goes behind the picket lines to show how and why teachers strike.

Who Cares About DC? (57m)
Directed by: Stephen Kolb
Documentary Feature (2022)
Program 17

When director Stephen Kolb moved from California to Washington, DC in 2007, he didn't realize he was giving up his citizenship. He learned that the 14th and 15th Amendments to the US Constitution didn't apply to DC, because DC isn't a state! Most Americans don't know much about DC except that it's the nation's capitol. And they don't know that real people live, work and pay very high taxes in the District of Columbia. Who Cares About DC? tells the story of DC's status as America's last plantation through the voices of activists who have been working for decades to make DC the 51st State, realizing the dream of full American citizenship for its more than 700,000 residents.

You Can Too (13m)
Directed by: Zoe Beloff and Eric Muzzy
Films from the Frontlines (2022)
Program 15

A profile of Lowely Cheung, IBEW Local 3 Union Electrician. From the project, "The Song of the Essential Worker".

Online Only

Alone/Together (40m)
Directed by: Hsuan Yu Pan
Documentary Short (2022)

Alone/Together is a uniquely participatory documentary featuring artists, travelers, teachers, children, parents, and essential workers around the world, struggling and persevering through a deadly pandemic. Told through the eyes and perspective of a chorus of voices, the short documentary connects global citizens in eleven different countries as they begin responding to the COVID-19 outbreak. Our participants are from the US, the UK, Italy, Russia, Taiwan, Japan, China, Malaysia, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands.

Long Haulers (1 hr 14m) - Full Feature
Directed by: Amy Reid
Documentary Feature (2020)

An experimental documentary that gives agency, voice, and perspective into the world of a female trucker. Weaving together the stories of three truckers, Sandi, Lori, and Tracy, Long Haulers shares how each woman started trucking and what keeps them trucking. Moving between the intimate stories of their lives in tandem with the working conditions of being a trucker, Long Haulers aims to provoke audiences to question stereotypes, sexism, and gender roles not only in trucking, but in the larger workforce of blue collar positions.

Nobody Loves You And You Don't Deserve to Exist (99m)
Directed by: Brett Gregory
Narrative Feature (2022) U.K.

A unique multi-award winning working class art house movie exploring solitude, sanity and suffering under the British State. As a contagion befalls Great Britain, and millions reflect upon their lives, a grieving English teacher attempts to recover the tragic-comic fragments of his shattered self as we follow him as a boy, as a youth and as a man through the cathedrals, canals and crevices of Greater Manchester.

Screenplays 2022

Revolt of the Good Guys
Written by: Christy Daniels and Paul Daniels
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2022)

When a NYC postal union ignores its members' pleas for a living wage, a veteran letter carrier risks his job, pension, jail time, and the safety of his family to lead members on a wildcat strike that disrupts everyday life and brings US business to a standstill until President Nixon gives in to their demands. Based on true events.

Mother Jones
Written by: Lindsay Waite
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2022)

In the late 1800s, a 50-ish lonely woman with a radical neighbor is galvanized to look outside herself and, appalled by injustices suffered by the working class, becomes a labor organizer. She is beloved by the workers for her tenacious advocacy but detested by the capitalists who call her “the most dangerous woman in America". Ready to abandon the cause after a massacre of mineworkers for which she feels responsible, she realizes she does have the power - and the responsibility - to carry her mission directly to the President of the United States.

Reptile Logic
Written by: Matthew Paul Wexler
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2022)

Following a horrific workplace accident that leads to a subsequent unauthorized work stoppage, shameless corporate shill Mike Stevens and his dutiful assistant Iris must defend their company, by any unscrupulous means necessary, against the threat of sudden unionization from a street-wise dually-elected employee spokeswoman, Jacky.

Matthew The Angry Elf
Written by: David Gray
The Working Lives Screenplay Competition (2022)

Santa sends a North Pole elf with a foul mouth and a chip on his shoulder to instill the spirit of Christmas in a rude New Jersey family. Will the elf fulfill his task or use this opportunity to escape Santa’s tyranny and make a new life for himself?

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