Virtual Labor Film Screenings — Fall 2020
During the COVID-19 pandemic we were able to virtually screen labor films in conjunction with Metropolitan DC Labor Council's 2020 Global Labor Film Festival.
Wednesday September 2 6:30p
THE ARTIST AND STATE: Political Art in Mexico and the US
Prequel for the Sept. 9 REDES LIVES! screening asks How did the Mexican Revolution galvanize political muralists and
composers? Why was Mexico more hospitable to political art than the US? Samples Gregorio Luke's https://www.gregorioluke.com/ spectacular presentation on Diego Rivera and the Mexican muralists, plus commentary by composer Ana
Lara, historians Roberto Kolb, John Tutino, and Lorenzo Candelaria, and Ix-Nic Iruegas Peon of the Mexican Cultural Institute.
Co-sponsored by the DC LaborFest/DC Labor FilmFest
Tuesday, September 8 7p
SUFFRAGETTES IN THE SILENT CINEMA
2003; 35m; Documentary; Women Make Movies? OWOV (One Woman One Vote) Festival
Taking advantage of the powerful new medium, early filmmakers on both sides of the contentious issue of suffrage used film to create powerful
propaganda and images about women. Suffragettes in the Silent Cinema contains clips from many films from the era, including: A Lively Affair
(1912); A Busy Day (1914), which stars a young Charlie Chaplin in drag portraying a suffragist; and the pro-suffragist film, What 80 Million
Women Want (1913), which includes an eloquent speech from president of the Women's Political Union, Harriet Stanton Blatch. Silent films may
have passed into history, and their representations of feminists abandoning babies or stealing bicycles to attend suffragette meetings may now
seem outrageous, but the struggle for gender equality and the issues surrounding representations of women in the media remain as fascinating,
engaging, and relevant as ever.
Wednesday, September 9 7p
REDES LIVES! — The Iconic Film of the Mexican Revolution and What It Says To Us Today
2020 105m documentary
Hosted by Tom Zaniello; Introduction/Q&A by Angel Gil-Ordóñez & Joseph Horowitz
Redes (1936) tells the story of burgeoning labor rights amongst poor fishermen in a small village in Mexico, and features a galvanizing score by Silvestre
Revueltas and poetic cinematography by Paul Strand. The film features some of the most memorable sequences in the history of cinema of great music wedded to the
moving image. It's also a high exemplar of political art. Why isn't this film better known? Why isn't Revueltas as famous as Strand? Why was 20th
century Mexico more hospitable to political art than the US? Why did Aaron Copland say he "envied" Mexico's composers? And why did the Mexican
government support film advocating revolutionary change?
These are some of the questions addressed by "Redes Lives!" a brand-new film featuring excerpts from the acclaimed Naxos DVD featuring the classic
Mexican film Redes with Silvestre Revueltas's galvanizing soundtrack newly recorded by PostClassical Ensemble. The film includes commentary by Mexican
composer Ana Lara, Pablo Raphael de la Madrid from the Mexican Ministry of Culture, and historians Lorenzo Candelaria, Roberto Kolb, and John Tutino.
Visual presentation by Peter Bogdanoff; Scripted and edited by Joseph Horowitz; Angel Gil-Ordóñez, PCE's music director.
Thursday, September 10 (LABOR WEEK SERIES!) 7p
WAGING CHANGE
2019; 65m; documentary
Presented by Women Make Movies, One Fair Wage & Social Action Media
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Abby Ginzberg (filmmaker), Saru Jayaraman (president, One Fair Wage), Nikki Cole (National Policy
Campaign Director, One Fair Wage), and Cheadza Kundidzora (restaurant worker).
The National Restaurant Association, the "other NRA," has lobbied the government to keep the federal minimum wage for tipped workers at $2.13 an hour
since 1991. Facing off against this powerful lobby is Saru Jayaraman of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, who mobilizes grassroots support for a national
movement to fight for one fair wage. Candid profiles of restaurant workers and their struggles to make ends meet underline the urgency to address this inequality.
Co-sponsored by DC LaborFest and many more.
Tuesday, September 15 7p
NAE PASARAN
2018; 96m; documentary
40 years after their defiant protest against Pinochet's dictatorship, retired Scottish factory workers discover the incredible consequences of their
solidarity.
Tuesday, September 22 7p
PATSY MINK: AHEAD OF THE MAJORITY
2008; 56m; documentary; Women Make Movies' OWOV (One Woman One Vote) Festival
In 1965, Patsy Takemoto Mink became the first woman of color in the United States Congress. Seven years later, she ran for the US presidency and was the driving
force behind Title IX, the landmark legislation that transformed women's opportunities in higher education and athletics.
Tuesday, September 29 7p
QUEEN SUGAR
Introduced by Dr. Sherri Williams, Assistant professor in race, media and communication at American University&aposs School of Communication
The Bordelon's sugar mill experiences an ICE raid in an episode that highlights contemporary issues and illustrates how dangerous white supremacy for all people
of color but in different ways, including subjugating the literal freedom of Latinx people and blocking the economic freedom of the Black family that owns the
mill. Queen Sugar is an American drama television series created and executive produced by Ava DuVernay, with Oprah Winfrey serving as an executive producer.
Tuesday, October 6 7p
CHISHOLM '72: UNBOUGHT AND UNBOSSED
2004; 77m; documentary
An in-depth look at the 1972 presidential campaign of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and the first to seek nomination for the highest
office in the land.
Tuesday, October 13 7p
IN THE AISLES
2018; 125m; drama
Introduced by TBD; Sponsored by TBD
Christian begins to work as a shelf stacker at a supermarket and finds himself in a new, unknown world: the long aisles, the bustle at the checkouts, the
forklifts.
Tuesday, October 20 7p
NO TIME TO WASTE - THE URGENT MISSION OF BETTY REID SOSKIN
2020; 50m; documentary
Celebrates legendary national park ranger Betty Reid Soskin who, at age 98, still actively presents her unique perspective on American history to visitors at
Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park.
Tuesday, October 27 7p
ATLANTICS
2019; 92m; drama
After a group of unpaid construction workers disappears at sea one night in search of a better life abroad, the women they have left behind in Dakar are
overwhelmed with a mysterious fever. Ada, 17, secretly grieves for her love Souleiman, one of the departed workers, but she has been promised to another man.
After a fire breaks out on her wedding night, a young policeman is sent to investigate the crime. Little does he know that the aggrieved workers have come back as
haunting, possessive spirits. While many of them seek vengeance for their unpaid labor, Souleiman has come back for a different purpose - to be with his Ada one
last time.
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