DC Labor FilmFest AFI SILVER THEATRE SCREENINGS
|
All screenings at the American Film Institute, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD
Click here for tickets on the DC Labor FilmFest AFI page. Organized and presented by the Metropolitan Washington Council of the AFL-CIO, the Debs-Jones-Douglass Institute and the AFI Silver, the 18th annual DC Labor FilmFest features a wide-ranging selection of films about work, workers and workers’ issues. THE WORKER’S CUP: Wed, May 30, 7:15p THE YOUNG KARL MARX: Tue, May 1, 7:15p STRIKE (with the Alloy Orchestra!): Fri, May 4; 7:15p I, DANIEL BLAKE: Wed, May 9, 7:00p VERSUS: THE LIFE AND FILMS OF KEN LOACH: Mon, May 14, 7:15p WESTERN: Wed, May 16, 7:15p ON THE SEVENTH DAY: Mon, May 21, 7:15p I AM SOMEBODY: THREE FILMS BY MADELINE ANDERSON: Wed, May 23, 7:15p SWING SHIFT: Mon, May 28, 5:45p Click above and/or see below for detailed film write-ups and trailers, dates, times and links to purchase tickets. |
|
THE WORKER’S CUP
|
Wed, May 30, 7:15; AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Click here for tickets When FIFA selected Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup, the petroleum-rich country used its vast wealth to begin constructing state-of-the-art stadiums and facilities utilizing 1.6 million migrant workers. THE WORKERS CUP follows a group of these men — from India, Kenya, Nepal and Ghana — who, stuck in isolated camps, working arduous hours for unlivable wages, eagerly escape into a corporate-sponsored "workers' welfare" soccer tournament of their own. While the tournament amounts to little more than a marketing ploy for those at the top, the laborers embrace the rare opportunity to let loose, compete and prove themselves bona fide soccer champions. Through an empathetic lens, Adam Sobel showcases the collective willpower and humanity of men who refuse to allow trying circumstances to sink their one shot at winning a tournament in the very stadiums they've sacrificed so much to construct. (Note adapted from Sundance Film Festival.) DIR/SCR Adam Sobel; PROD Rosie Garthwaite, Ramzy Haddad. UK, 2017, color, 92 min. In English, Nepali, Malayalam, Twi, Ga, Hindi and Arabic with English subtitles. NOT RATED |
|
THE YOUNG KARL MARX [LE JEUNE KARL MARX; DER JUNGE KARL MARX]
|
Tue, May 1, 7:15p; AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Click here for tickets Following his documentary I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO, Raoul Peck takes on the story of the formative friendship of Karl Marx (August Diehl) and Friedrich Engels (Stefan Konarske). From Germany to France to England, the young thinkers pursue justice for the working class, who toiled under obscenely exploitative conditions to enrich their employers (including Engels' father, a mill owner) during the peak of the Industrial Revolution. Peck crafts an accessible biopic about these two larger-than-life thinkers, taking them down from their historicized pedestals and allowing viewers to relate to them as young strivers disrupting an inequitable status quo through the power of persuasion and organization. Official selection, 2017 Berlin International Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Raoul Peck; SCR Pascal Bonitzer; PROD Nicolas Blanc, Rémi Grellety, Robert Guédiguian. Germany/France/Belgium, 2017, color, 118 min. In German, English and French with English subtitles. NOT RATED |
|
STRIKE (1925) with live music by the the Alloy Orchestra!
|
Fri, May 4; 7:15p; AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Click here for tickets Live musical accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra! Trouble is brewing at a large factory in Tsar-era Russia: laborers are overworked and underpaid, and when a man falsely accused of theft kills himself, his comrades won't stand for it any more. Sergei Eisenstein, then an up-and-coming theater director and later an eccentric genius whose name would become synonymous with Soviet filmmaking, was only 26 when he directed STRIKE. His startling film debut broke every convention of the time to create a revolutionary cinema for the new country. DIR/SCR Sergei Eisenstein; SCR Grigoriy Alexandrov, Ilya Kravchunovsky, Valerian Pletnev. USSR, 1925, b&w, 88 min. NOT RATED |
|
I, DANIEL BLAKE
|
Wed, May 9, 7:00p; AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Click here for tickets Ken Loach's portrait of an aging Newcastle carpenter denied benefits formerly afforded to him and subjected to the nightmarish, Kafkaesque bureaucracy of the British welfare system won the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Dave Johns brings crusty authority to the part of Daniel Blake, and his righteous indignation rings true. Hayley Squires is a revelation as Katie, a young welfare mom recently priced out of ever-gentrifying London, with whom Daniel forms an important and sustaining friendship. Audience Award, 2016 Locarno and San Sebastián film festivals; Opening Night, 2016 Ghent Film Festival; Official Selection, 2016 Toronto, Chicago, Busan, Vancouver and New York film festivals. DIR Ken Loach; SCR Paul Laverty; PROD Rebecca O'Brien. UK/France/Belgium, 2016, color, 100 min, DCP. In English. NOT RATED |
|
VERSUS: THE LIFE AND FILMS OF KEN LOACH
|
Mon, May 14, 7:15p; AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Click here for tickets VERSUS presents a surprisingly candid behind-the-scenes look at the life and work of 81-year-old filmmaker Ken Loach, following him as he prepares to release I, DANIEL BLAKE — his 50th major work, and a film that went on to earn the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Director Louise Osmond was granted exclusive access on set and uses this as a starting point to look at Loach's career, from his first job as understudy in a Kenneth Williams revue to his work on groundbreaking TV dramas like UP THE JUNCTION and CATHY COME HOME, and later as an award-winning feature director of films such as KES, RIFF-RAFF, THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY and THE ANGELS' SHARE. Featuring interviews with Loach, as well as a host of his friends, adversaries, actors and collaborators, VERSUS is more than just a document of Loach's oeuvre. It is also a playful study of the process and struggles of creating such a unique and cohesive body of work. (Note adapted from Dogwoof.) DIR/SCR Louise Osmond; PROD Rebecca O'Brien. UK, 2016, color, 93 min. NOT RATED |
|
WESTERN
|
Wed, May 16, 7:15; AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Click here for tickets An intense, slow-burning thriller from German filmmaker Valeska Grisebach (BE MY STAR, LONGING), WESTERN follows a group of German construction workers installing a hydroelectric plant in remote rural Bulgaria. The foreign land awakens the men's sense of adventure, but tensions mount when Meinhard (Meinhard Neumann), the strong, silent newcomer to the group, starts mixing with the local villagers. The two sides speak different languages and share a troubled history. Can they learn to trust each other? Or is the stage being set for a showdown? (Note adapted from Cinema Guild.) DIR/SCR/PROD Valeska Grisebach; PROD Maren Ade, Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski, Michel Merkt. Germany/Bulgaria, 2017, color, 121 min. In German and Bulgarian with English subtitles. NOT RATED |
|
ON THE SEVENTH DAY (2017) [EN EL SÉPTIMO DIA]
|
Mon, May 21, 7:15; AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Click here for tickets Shot on the streets of Brooklyn with a largely non-professional cast, acclaimed director Jim McKay's (GIRLS TOWN, OUR SONG) first film in more than a decade is a timely and compassionate look at life in New York as an undocumented Mexican immigrant. José (Fernando Cardona) works long hours doing bicycle deliveries for a restaurant and spends his day off on the soccer fields of Sunset Park. His team makes it to the championship, but José's boss tells him he has to work on the day of the finals. With the looming threat of being fired, Jose must choose between his job and his loyalty to his team. (Note adapted from BAMcinemaFest.) Official Selection, 2017 BAMcinemaFest and Locarno film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Jim McKay; PROD Alex Bach, Lindsey Cordero, Caroline Kaplan, Michael Stipe. U.S., 2017, color, 92 min. In English, Spanish and Mixtec with English subtitles. NOT RATED |
|
I AM SOMEBODY: THREE FILMS BY MADELINE ANDERSON
|
Wed, May 23, 7:15; AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Click here for tickets Madeline Anderson’s classic labor documentary I AM SOMEBODY (1970) depicts the strength of, and the hardships endured by, a group of African-American female hospital workers on strike in 1969 in Charleston, South Carolina. Produced by New York Drug and Hospital Union Local 1199, I AM SOMEBODY features appearances by Andrew Young, Charles Abernathy, and Coretta Scott King. The program also features Anderson’s first documentary, INTEGRATION REPORT #1 (1960) as well as TRIBUTE TO MALCOLM X (1967), which aired on TV's BLACK JOURNAL. “I was determined to do what I was going to do at any cost. I kept plugging away. Whatever I had to do, I did it,” she said of her career. Total program approx. 70 min. I AM SOMEBODY; DIR/PROD Madeline Anderson. US, 1970, color, 30 min, 16mm. NOT RATED INTEGRATION REPORT #1; DIR/PROD Madeline Anderson. US, 1960, b&w, 20 min, 16mm. NOT RATED TRIBUTE TO MALCOLM X; DIR/PROD Madeline Anderson. US, 1967, color/b&w, 14 min, 16mm. NOT RATED Trailer (I AM SOMEBODY) |
|
SWING SHIFT
|
Mon, May 28, 5:45; AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Click here for tickets In what Roger Ebert said “may be the first buddy movie about women,” Jonathan Demme’s classic stars Silver Spring native Goldie Hawn and Christine Lahti as women who take jobs as riveters on a bomber assembly line during World War II. Hazed by the plant's macho veterans, they also learn to support themselves, to think for themselves, and to see themselves differently. The film also stars Kurt Russell, Ed Harris and Fred Ward. “There's no suspense and no big emotional payoff, but the movie is always absorbing,” says Ebert. “At the war's end, most of the women went back to their pots and pans, but the first shots had been fired in the mid 20th century war for women's liberation,” adds Vincent Canby. DIR Jonathan Demme. US, 1984, color, 1 hr 40m, PG |
|
Click below for the DC LaborFest YouTube channel, Twitter Feed and Facebook page
|
|
|