Great Films -- and Some Controversy -- at 2011 DC Labor FilmFest

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Friday marks the official opening of the 11th annual DC Labor FilmFest with screenings of Up in the Air (5:15p) and a special 35th-anniversary screening of All the President’s Men (7:30p). Up in the Air features George Clooney as a high-flying corporate hatchet man who travels around the country doing the dirty work of corporate bosses too cowardly to fire their own employees. Many of the workers “fired” in the film were culled by director Jason Reitman from the ranks of actual laid-off workers. All the President’s Men, the 1976 classic directed by Alan Pakula and starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, is being screened as part of the FilmFest’s third annual Whistleblower’s Series. The film tells the story of Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they uncover the Watergate scandal, which exposed corruption at the very top and brought down a President. Despite increasing attacks on freedom of speech, this film still stands as a taut, solidly acted paean to the enduring benefits of a free press and the ever-present dangers of unchecked power. The inclusion of the film has also generated some controversy among those in the local labor community who recall the Post’s breaking of the Pressmen’s union during the bitter 1975 strike, as well as the paper’s more recent anti-union activities; click here for Ally Schweitzer’s report in City Paper. Click here for the FilmFest’s complete line-up, a downloadable full-color flyer and to order tickets. Want to see a movie for free and get a free FilmFest t-shirt too? There are a few volunteer slots left: click here to see which slots are still available and to sign up.