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Listen to our interview on Michael Bhardwaj's In Town and Out (MP3 link) show on CBC Radio 91.5 FM that aired Saturday November 28th, 2009 for some great reasons on why you should come out to the Festival this weekend.
6 Weeks of Solidarity
Director: Victor Dobchuk
Producer: Victor Dobchuk, Doug Smith, Malanka Productions Ltd.
Year: 1995
Country of Origin:
Time: 9:21 min.
Description: A look at the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, 75 years later.
Just another cog in the machine
Director: John Wood
Producer: John Wood
Year: 2009
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Time: 2:45 min.
Description: Using wordplay & a photocopier to promote starting a union.
The Philosopher Kings
Director: Patrick Sheen
Producer: Patrick Sheen & Greg Bennick
Year: 2009
Country of Origin: USA
Time: 70 min.
Description: A great non-fiction tale that is moving and will really make your audience think about the value they place on all workers. The movie goes deep into the most well-respected and prestigious universities to seek wisdom from the people who see it all and have been through it all: the janitors.
Los Mexicanos: The Struggle for Justice of Patricia Perez
Director: Charles Latour
Producer: Charles Latour
Year: 2007
Country of Origin: Canada
Time: 60 min.
Description: Every year, some 4000 migrant foreign workers coming mostly from Mexico labour in Quebec farms to plant and pick our vegetables. In the summer of 2006, Patricia Perez, a pro-union militant speaking for the UFCW, launches a major drive to organize the workers in several farms South of Montreal. She struggles to protect them by bringing them under a union that would give them the same rights as Canadian agricultural workers. This film is about the injustices of globalisation not in the Third World, but here at home in Canada.
Second Chance - Union Made
Director: Kelly Candaele
Producer: Kelly Candaele
Year: 2008
Country of Origin: USA
Time: 55 min.
Description: Follow the lives and work of six ex-gang/prison members who turn their lives around by entering the Pipefitters, Ironworkers and Electric Workers Unions. Inspirational.
Seeds of Peace
Director: Andre Kloer & Maaike Broos
Producer: March21 Films
Year: 2009
Country of Origin: Israel
Time: 50 min.
Description: Jawdat Talousy worked in a Jewish Settlement located on the West Bank. He was fired because he established a labour committee in order to get equal labour rights as Israeli co-workers. In the settlements labour laws for Palestinians are ambiguous and law enforcement is weak. Follow Jawdat's struggle to fight for his rights as well as learn about how this ambiguity affects other Palestinians in the settlements.
Workes in Peril, Union in Action
Director: Michael Connolly
Producer: Amistad Video and Film
Year: 2009
Country of Origin: Canada
Time: 44 min.
Description: Covers the recent recession's effect on workers, and auto workers specifically. Also touches on pension and severance issues. Great footage and editing. Narrated by Jian Gomeshi.
Vinegar in the Valley
Director: Robin Hartwig, Zac Minor and Zac Petrillo
Producer: The National Steinbeck Center
Year: 2009
Country of Origin: USA
Time: 21:27 min.
Description: Charts the rise of the United Farm Workers movement, the rise to power of Cesar Chavez and its impact on the Salinas Valley during the 60's, 70's and 80's. Looks at the conflict from all sides by interviewing growers, union members and others. A strong student finished production.
Hold the Line
Director: Min Sook Lee
Producer: Lisa Valencia & CUPE
Year: 2009
Country of Origin: Canada
Time: 15:47 min.
Description: A restrained story-telling of the 2009 CUPE strike in Windsor, ON. Excellent shots of Windsor backed by a moody soundtrack, this film tells the story of a strike from the workers' poin of view. The economy is being used as a tool to claw back workers' rights. When workers go on strike, it becomes clear that it is a sign of the times. The message is "Hold the Line."
Painting Red Square
Director: Max Fraser
Producer: Max Fraser
Year: 2009
Country of Origin: Canada
Time: 5 min.
Description: 7000 kilometres from Moscow, there's another Red Square. Witness the struggle of the labour-left in Whitehorse, Yukon to find a friendly watering hole where they can share a glass with their comrades and debate which shade of red is best. Beer, popcorn and a little paint get spilled along the way.
Hermes ** local Ottawa area film (Ottawa venue only)
Director: Melanie Roach
Producer: Melanie Roach
Year:
Country of Origin: Canada
Time: approx 6 min.
Description: Angelo Sarrazin is the main voice in this experimental documentary about bike messengers. At the prime age of 28 Angelo is coming to terms with the love of his life – his job. Right before I approached him to do a short film about his work, he had been approached by the courier company he worked for to do work in the office and make significantly more than he was making as a bike messenger – a job he had been doing since he was eighteen without benefits or worker’s compensation.
Thomas who is called a Communist in the film, is a huge advocate for the unionization of couriers. A bike messenger with a Masters degree in Sustainability, he decided to start his own courier company when he got out of university.
Leslie exposes the harsh reality of being a messenger. You do not get sick days, worker’s compensation, and your body doesn’t forgive you either. Year’s of being a messenger takes its toil and you are faced with the fact that you cannot do this job into old age.
I decided to do this movie for I admired bike messengers and the adrenaline rush they must face everyday going into work. I had no idea what a dispatcher was, the difference between working for a company that uses old technology and the one’s that use cell phones, the risk these people face on so many other levels, and the love they not only for their job but for one another.
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