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International Working Class
Film & Video FestivalAt San Francisco Locations
July 5 (Saturday) 2:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Sacco and Vanzetti (82 min) 2006
By Peter Miller
Sacco and Vanzetti brings to life the story of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian immigrant anarchists who were accused of a murder in 1920, and executed in Boston in 1927 after a notoriously prejudiced trial. Millions of people around the world protested on their behalf, and now, 80 years later, their story continues to have great resonance, as civil liberties and the rights of immigrants are again under attack.Powerful prison writings (given voice by John Turturro and Tony Shalhoub) and passionate interviews with Howard Zinn, Arlo Guthrie and Studs Terkel are interwoven with artwork, music, and film clips. Through the story of Sacco and Vanzetti, audiences will experience a universal - and very timely - tale of official injustice and human resilience. http://www.willowpondfilms.com/sacco_and_vanzetti.html
Eugene Debs & The American Movement
(43 min) 1977
By Cambridge Documentary Films
This film tells the story of railroad worker Eugene Debs’ life through his speeches and photographs. He is one of the most important labor leaders in the history of the United States. Jailed for opposing the 1st world war, he fought for workers rights and received over one million votes while running for president from jail. He founded the American Railway union and led the Pullman strike in 1894. He founded the Socialist Party in 1901 and ran four times as its presidential candidate. He also organized the Industrial Workers of the World with Mother Jones, Big Bill Haywood and others.
http://www.cambridgedocumentaryfilms.org/debs.html#July 5 (Saturday) 7:00, 9.00 PM ($8.00) - Victoria Theatre - 2961 16th Street, at Mission, San Francisco
LaborFest '08 Opening Night
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
It’s A Free World (96 min) 2008 West coast Premier
Director: Ken Loach (England), Writer: Paul Laverty, Starring: Kierston Wareing, Juliet Ellis, Leslaw Zurek
Loach’s film, It’s A Free World is about the business of immigrant exploitation. Angie a young women with a daughter sets up an illegal employment agency for immigrant workers in east London after she has been fired by her sexist boss. Operating from a pub in the neighborhood, Angie and her flat-mate Rose select casual workers from immigrants who turn up each morning searching for work. With millions of migrant workers throughout the world, this searing drama shows reality of “market capitalism” and the logic of ruthless entrepreneurship that is at the heart of our “free world.”
This film exposes the real economic conditions in a first world country for it’s migrant workers, their families and the lives of immigrant workers who are helping to build and make the country run. It also looks at how the reality of capitalism pits one worker against another and the cost of this system on working people. In light of the racism and race baiting by the corporate controlled media against immigrant workers in this country and the use of the ICE raids to terrorize workers, their families and the community this look at how the system operates economically is absolutely critical. The present ICE raids are now being organized not only to silence the millions of immigrant workers who have marched on May Day but also to smash organizing drives of unions seeking to represent these workers.July 6 (Sunday) 2:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Un Poquito De Tanta Verdad (A Little Bit of So Much Truth) (93 min) 2007
By Jill Friedberg
This film shows the role of the fight for community/labor control of media in the struggle in Oaxaca in 2006 and 2007. We look at workers, peasants and activists fighting to get their voices on the airwaves about their struggle for survival and justice. http://www.corrugate.org
Dear Mandela (6 min) 2007
By Dara Kell & Christopher Nizza
The promise according to Nelson Mandela was that the end of the South African apartheid regime would resolve the housing crisis. Instead, the lack of proper housing and the destruction of housing by the government has worsened qualitatively the living conditions for millions of South African people.This short film follows three teenagers as they are targeted by the South African police for defending their right to housing. http://sleepinggiantfilms.wordpress.com
The Deported (22 min) 2007 By Musgtaque Ahmed (Mahbub), Korean Migrant Media
The story of the struggle of Bangladeshi and Nepali workers in South Korea and the effects of the government crackdown on these immigrant workers. The Korean Confederation of Unions KCTU has recognized migrant workers unions as part of their federation. These workers learn about the Korean labor situation and become conscious about the fight for justice and economic rights.
http://www.mfasia.org/mfaStatements/Statement15-KCTUActionAlert.html
migrantact@gmail.comJuly 10 (Thursday) 5:00, 8:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
The International / Beynelmilel (106 min) 2006 West coast Premier
By Muharrem Gulmez & Sirri Sureyya Onder (Turkey)
Set in Adiyaman, Turkey, the business for a group of local musicians hits rock bottom due to curfew laws implemented in 1982 by the US supported military coup in 1980. The repression by the junta takes a twist when the region’s martial law commander decides he needs a band for the upcoming visit of the junta generals. The town band is now ordered to put on some uniforms and perform a welcoming ceremony for the military council’s visit to the town. At the same time, the daughter of the local orchestra’s head becomes involved with the town revolutionaries who are seeking to make a statement against the generals. The life and music of the people of Turkey is merged in the struggle to expose and challenge the brutal military rule. This film was one of the most popular films in Turkey about military rule and resistance.
S?rr? Süreyya Önder was born in Ad?yaman in 1962. He was a political science student at Ankara University during the military coup of September 12, 1980. He was one of the students arrested during the riots and was convicted as a political felon. Önder served 12 years in Mamak Prison. He defines himself as a distressed person, a man who feels a responsibility for the land he lives in.4857 (The Life in Tuzla Shipyards) (30 min)
2008 US Premier
By Petra Holzer, Selçuk Erzurumlu, Ethem Özgüven Kurgu (Turkey)
Tuzla graveyard overlooks the massive ship building plants. As you start to descend from the hill on the left is a vast military area and it is entirely green and empty of humans. Then, as if cut by a knife from this, cement buildings appear. These are the homes of workers laboring at the shipyards. They are evacuated at 7:00 AM in the morning by the workers who work “outside” at the ship yards in leather plants and other supporting industries. Sprinkled between the family homes and apartments single workers live in flop houses as they try to survive and hope for the future.
Their concerns are death and survival, their hopes and worries are the hopes and worries of all of us. The Tuzla graveyard overlooks this massive shipbuilding area where great profits are made and workers die.
http://4857-documentary.blogspot.com/
petramh@gmail.comJuly 13 (Sunday) 2:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
To Die In Madrid (58 min) 1963 By Frederic Rossif
This documentary from newsreel clips by Frederic Ross shows the horror, disillusion and bravery of the Spanish Civil War. This powerful documentary is one of the most powerful made.Into The Fire - American Women In The Spanish Civil War
(58 min) 2002 By Julia Newman (She will be attending)
Over eighty women joined the fight during the Spanish civil war. This illuminating film interviews 16 of these women on why they went to Spain and what they did there. This rich story of their lives and experiences in Spain adds an important addition to our understanding of US and women’s history.
Renee Gibbons will perform
Event co-sponsored by Veterans of The Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
http://www.firstrunfeatures.com/intothefiredvd.htJuly 13 (Sunday) 7:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Dare To Struggle, Dare To Win (96 min) 1968 By Jean-Pierre Thorn
This classic on a worker occupation of the Renault Boulogn-Billancourt factory near Paris shows how the workers take over the factory and their struggle to continue the occupation and strike. Thorn was a student just out of film school and this was his first work. He has continued to make films about the lives of working people including women workers and immigrant youth.
Le Fond de l’air est rouge (1977, 1993 re-cut) By Chris Marker France
By the leader of the modernist left bank school, this film shows the struggle from the streets of Paris in this historic documentary of the Paris 1968 rebellion. It also includes footage from Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Prague and other countries around the world during the 1968 battles. Also included is the political divide of the left over these battles including Fidel Castro who opposed the invasion of the Czech Republic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=midl8JPMeq4
May ‘68 in French cinema, Its History And Relevance -
by Julien Camy juliencamy@gmail.comJuly 14 (Monday) 6:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
In The Year Of The Pig (103 min) 1968 By Emile de Antonio
Produced at the height of the Vietnam War, this documentary chronicles the war’s historical roots. Nearly 40 years have transpired and yet the US is again involved in another imperial adventure. This historical documentary brings home the question why is the US involved in another war? In 1968, the war was about fighting “communism” and it reverberates in today’s “war against terrorism.”Blow For Blow / Coup Pour Coup (90 min) 1972 By Marin Karmitz
Marin Karmitz produced this important work in commemoration and memory of the ‘68 strike movement. It shows the organization of a strike in a French garment factory from the point of view of the actual workers. The workers are also the actors in the film and played a key role in scripting the film.The strike, which was organized and led by women workers also shows their battle for control of the union with mostly male leadership. This film was a result of the massive struggles of May, June ‘68 in France both for power against the bosses and state and for democratic control within the unions.July 15 (Tuesday) 7:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
9/11 Dust and Deceit at The World Trade Center (59 min) 2007
By Penny Little (She will be attendin)
The impact of the environmental disaster after 911 will continue for years. The health of those who were exposed to the toxic dust and told that the “air is safe to breathe” and the continuing cover-up of the problems has not been adequately reported in the mainstream media. Those who were most affected are often the least able to get the help they need.
http://www.911dust.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3BD9KU5_9Y&eurl=The Toxic Clouds of 9/11: A Looming Health Disaster (66 min) 2006
By allison Johnson
In this absorbing video we see the effect of the chemicals and toxins released into the environment by the collapse of the WTO towers. Despite the growing risk from these dangerous substances EPA director Christie Todd Whitman told the workers involved in the cleanup after the collapse that everything was safe to breath and later that it was safe for residents to return. The catastrophe and cover-up of 9/11 health costs is still going on for the workers, people who went to help and those who lived in the neighborhood.
http://alisonjohnsonmcs.com/3.htmlTrade unionist John Sferazo from Iron Workers Local 361 and IUOE Local 138 will attend and discuss his efforts to defend the first responders. Sferazo is President and Co-Founder of Unsung Heroes Helping Heroes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z-eUz2pUJk
http://www.unsunghhh.us/
http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-09/2007-09-10-voa40.cfm
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-3543
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtSmoSs5iuQJuly 15 (Tuesday) 5:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
US Premier
Not Just A Matter of Saving Our Skins / Utoia and IG Metal
(81 min) 2007 (Germany)
By Holger Wegemann
In May 2005, the Bosch-Siemens workers in Berlin who produce Siemens household appliances were threatened with the closure of their factory and the loss of 600 jobs. The company claimed that the location was too expensive and technically out of date. The company demanded that 600 workers transferred and take massive cuts in salaries and benefits. The workers faced a union that was organizing a deal which was unacceptable to the majority, and they were accused by the media of being “utopian.” This film shows the story of their struggle both personally and politically.
http://www.videowerkstatt.de/July 16 (Wednesday) 5:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Water Front (53 min) 2007
By Liz Miller
This powerful film by Liz Miller tells the story of the destruction of Highland Park, Michigan, the birthplace of mass production and good paying union jobs for hundreds of thousands of workers. The destruction of this industrial powerhouse leads to corporate schemes to save the city by privatizing the water system. Homeowners start receiving bills for thousands of dollars and face the shutoff of this basic necessity. Some bills reach $10,000. The film follows Vallory Johnson who turns her anger into organizing a grass roots campaign for affordable water as a basic human right.
The literal criminal destruction of tens of thousands of homes in the Detroit area is a stain on the history of the United States. Obviously there is no oil in Detroit, just human beings.
http://www.thewaterfrontmovie.com
Elizabeth.miller@sympatico.caJuly 16 (Wednesday) 7:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Lock Out (56 min) 2007 (Australia)
By Jason Van Genderen
The year 1929 was one of the darkest chapters in Australian industrial history. There was a brutal effort to crush the strong labor movement in Northern Coalfields of New South Wales. During this dark period, 10,000 miners found themselves locked out of their Hunter Valley coal mines in a bitter industrialdispute over pay rates. What began as an undeclared war on industrial labor ended up overpowering a government, crippling an industry and besieging a community. This event challenged the rights of every Australian, and redefined the political and industrial landscape of a country that witnessed an event forever remembered as “The Great Australian Lockout.”
http://www.lockout.tv/The Archive Project - The Realist Film Unit in Australia (98 min) 2006 (Australia)
By John Hughes
This film shows the history of a group of politically conscious Melbourne Australian filmmakers who produce labor films about the lives of working people in the midst of the cold war. As a result of their work, they were hounded in a witch-hunt by the corporate press and the lessons of this experience are relevant today. http://www.realtimearts.net/article/issue72/8068July 17 (Thursday) 5:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
SF Mess (42 min) 2008
By Greg Rodgers
This locally produced documentary in San Francisco looks at the union organizing effort in the San Francisco bike messenger world. Learn about the lives and conditions of bike messenger workers.
Greg24fps@yahoo.comOur Families, Our Community, Our Union (12 min) 2007
By Jano Oscherwitz
This documentary shows the struggle of Native American healthcare workers to organize and the issues that they face.
Jano.oscherwitz@seiu1021.orgJustice Can't Be Temporary (8 min) 2007
By Jano Oscherwitz & Octavio Velarde, SEIU 1021 Organizer
Tens of thousands of public workers in California are prevented from getting permanent full time jobs by their “temporary” or “part time status.” This video shows why these workers are struggling for full rights after many years on the job.July 17 (Thursday) 7:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
The Ghosts Of Duffy's Cut (52 min) 2006 Ireland West Coast Premier
Producer: Dave Farrell, Directors: Stephen Rooke & Ruan Magan
This documentary tells the story of indentured Irish workers from Duffy, Ireland, who were brought to the United States in April 1832 to build one of the earliest stretches of railroad in Pennsylvania.
The search for the truth about what happened to these workers when there was a cholera outbreak is uncovered in this hidden history of our country and we see the real lives of these indentured workers.
From a stone to commemorate these 57 young Irish workers “To build their lines, Pennsylvania railroads had to tunnel through mountains, cross wide rivers, span deep gorges to lay the track upon which their trains would run. This was hard, physically demanding, low-paying labor and dangerous work. To find men desperate enough to build and maintain their lines, Pennsylvania railroads for generations relied upon foreign workers – Irish and Chinese, and Italians – and upon African Americans from the south. In 2004, a state historical marker was erected for fifty-seven Irish Catholic men whose fleeting chance at the “American Dream” ended in horror in August, 1832.”
Renee Gibbons will perform.
http://www.tilefilms.ie/
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20040620/ai_n12898492The Equal Pay Story:Scenes From A Turbulent History
(29 min) 2008 U.K. US Premier
Directed by Jenny Morgan, Produced by Jo Morris
This shows the historic struggle for equal pay for women workers since the 1888’s using archival footage. It is part of a labor education project called Winning Equal Pay, The Value Of Women’s Work sponsored by the UK TUC.
http://www.unionhistory.info/equalpay/Labor Music Videos Shorts By Chris Cambell, member Boilermakers Local 146 Canada
Shut Down Blues Canada (2007) 5 minutes, Gotta Be Safe Canada (2007) 4 minutes, There’s A Wild One Going On Canada (2007) 4:42 minutes With singer Renee Gibbon and Writer Daniel Cassidy
http://www.tigwired.com/
http://www.campbellinspection.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/gottabesafe.mov
http://www.campbellinspection.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/tigshutdownbluesstreaming.mov
http://www.campbellinspection.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/tigwiredwildonewebstream.mov