DC LaborFest Preview: More great labor films, music, art & history!

The fourth full week of this year's LaborFest is coming up and it's just as jam-packed as the first three. The films on the schedule range from the classic Native Land to the gripping new The Measure of A Man, as well as Revolution: New Art For A New World and Death by Design: The Dirty Secret of Our Digital Addiction. The wonderful Magpie duo will release their new CD “When We Stand Together: Songs of Joe Hill, the IWW, and Fellow Workers”  and while Images of Labor in The National Gallery of Art has already sold out, you can still get into theTeamsters History Tour and the Labor Film Poster exhibit is on exhibit all week at the AFL-CIO. Details below on the week's line-up; RSVP now to ensure your spot!

LaborFest This Week:
Labor Film Poster exhibit: Daily, 8am – 5pm
Native Land: Mon, May 22, 7:15pm
Images of Labor in The National Gallery of Art (SOLD OUT): Tue, May 23, 1p
Magpie: Tue, May 23, 5p
Teamsters History Tour: Wed, May 24, 12p
The Measure of a Man: Wed, May 24, 7:15p
Revolution: New Art For A New World: Thu, May 25, 8p
Death by Design: The Dirty Secret of Our Digital Addiction: Fri, May 26, 12p

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Labor Film Poster exhibit (DC LaborFest)
Mon, May 22, 8am – 5pm; FREE
AFL-CIO lobby, 815 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20005
This exhibition of film posters and stills represents a wide range of Hollywood, independent and foreign films that incorporate workplace and organizing themes. Many of the films presented here have helped bring public attention to important stories about worker safety, the exploitation of immigrant workers, impediments to achieving union recognition and other important issues. Many are also exceptional works of art. The exhibition is selected from a larger collection owned by the DC Labor FilmFest, made possible by the support and generosity of Jules Bernstein.

Native Land (LaborFest Film)
Mon, May 22, 7:15pm – 10:00pm
AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910 
Narrated by Paul Robeson, Native Land employs a cast of familiar if not stellar character actors in a story of how certain enemies within the US have done their best to suppress their fellow citizens' rights to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly and freedom from want. This 1942 film directed by Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand, echoes today's depictions of capitalism’s war on the common man.
Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand, US, 1942, 89 min.
Trailer
 
Magpie (LaborFest Music)
Tue, May 23, 5pm – 8pm
Busboys and Poets Takoma, 235 Carroll St, Washington DC 20012 (map)
FREE but you must RSVP online here 
​THIS JUST IN: this year's performance will also be the official release of Magpie's new CD “When We Stand Together.”
MAGPIE’s Terry Leonino and Greg Artzner return to the LaborFest for the second straight year. They’ll be singing selections from their new CD, "When We Stand Together: Songs of Joe Hill, the IWW, and Fellow Workers." Terry and Greg have been singing about unions and workers for their entire career. Pete Seeger called them “…more links in the chain,” dedicating their lives and music to leaving this world a better place. From Joe Hill and the Wobblies to the miners of Appalachia to Pete Seeger, Joe Glazer, and contemporary songs by themselves and fellow writers, Greg and Terry cover more than a century of labor song with power and authenticity. 

Teamsters History Tour (LaborFest History)
Wed, May 24, 12:00pm – 1:30pm
Teamsters, 25 Louisiana Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001, USA (map)
FREE; RSVP online here 
Find out how the horses on the Teamster logo got their names and lots of other fascinating Teamster labor history at this guided tour of the historical exhibits at the Teamsters headquarters building. Teamster historian Karin Jones leads the tour. 

The Measure of a Man (LaborFest Film)
Wed, May 24, 7:15pm – 10:45pm
AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910 
For tickets click here 
Vincent Lindon gives his finest performance to date as unemployed everyman Thierry, who must submit to a series of quietly humiliating ordeals in his search for work. Futile retraining courses that lead to dead ends, interviews via Skype, an interview-coaching workshop critique of his self-presentation by fellow job seekers; all are mechanisms that seek to break him down and strip him of identity and self-respect in the name of reengineering of a workforce. Directed by Stéphane Brizé, this 2015 film pushes the viewer to critique the realities of our new economic order and labor system.
La Loi du marché, Stéphane Brizé, France 2015, 93 min., DCP, French w/subtitles 
Trailer 

Revolution: New Art For A New World (LaborFest Film)
Thu, May 25, 8pm – 10pm
Old Greenbelt Theatre, 129 Centerway, Greenbelt, MD 20770, USA (map)
Tickets  
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Margy Kinmonth, Revolution: New Art For A New World is a bold and exciting feature documentary that encapsulates a momentous period in the history of Russia and the Russian Avant-Garde. Drawing on the collections of major Russian institutions, contributions from contemporary artists, curators and performers and personal testimony from the descendants of those involved, the film brings the artists of the Russian Avant-Garde to life. Some of the works of art have been locked away for many years, so the documentary provides an exclusive look at works of Russian Avant-Garde art that many have never seen.
Trailer
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Death by Design: The Dirty Secret of Our Digital Addiction (LaborFest Film)
Fri, May 26, 12pm – 1pm
AFL-CIO, 815 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20005
FREE; RSVP online here 
Consumers love – and live on – their smartphones, tablets and laptops. A cascade of new devices pours endlessly into the market, promising even better communication, non-stop entertainment and instant information. The numbers are staggering. By 2020, four billion people will have a personal computer. Five billion will own a mobile phone.
But this revolution has a dark side, hidden from most consumers. In an investigation that spans the globe, filmmaker Sue Williams investigates the underbelly of the electronics industry and reveals how even the smallest devices have deadly environmental and health costs. From the intensely secretive factories in China, to a ravaged New York community and the high tech corridors of Silicon Valley, the film tells a story of environmental degradation, of health tragedies, and the fast approaching tipping point between consumerism and sustainability. 
Introduced by Cathy Feingold, International Director at the AFL-CIO, with Q&A after the film with special guests.
Trailer