DC LABORFEST
Celebrating Labor Arts
Wed, May 18, 7:00
Click here for tickets AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Downtown Silver Spring, MD Hosted by SAG-AFTRA Will Smith stars in this dramatic thriller based on the incredible true David vs. Goliath story of American immigrant Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player and fought for the truth to be known. Omalu’s emotional quest puts him at dangerous odds with one of the most powerful – and beloved – institutions in the world. This issue continues to make headlines, most recently when the New York Times revealed in late March that NFL research significantly undercounted concussions. A group of retired players has sued the NFL accusing the league of covering up the risks of concussions. With captivating performances by Alec Baldwin and Academy Award® nominee Albert Brooks (1987 Best Supporting Actor, Broadcast News). US; 123m; biography/sport |
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Sat, May 14, 11:00 a.m.
$5 Tickets! AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Downtown Silver Spring, MD Starting a new job can be a difficult challenge, especially if you're already retired. Looking to get back into the game, 70-year-old widower Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro) seizes the opportunity to become a senior intern at a startup online fashion site. Ben soon becomes popular with his younger co-workers, including Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway), the frazzled boss and founder of the company. Retired from a phone directory company that used to occupy the repurposed Brooklyn factory, Whittaker's charm, wisdom and sense of humor reveal that older workers still have much to contribute. DIR/SCR: Nancy Meyers Stars: Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo US, 2015, color, 121 min; Comedy |
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Mon, May 23, 7:00
Click here for tickets AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Downtown Silver Spring, MD Introduced by Linda Zachrison, Cultural Counselor for the Embassy of Sweden This 1971 biopic about the famous Swedish-American labor activist and songwriter Joe Hill was lost and unavailable commercially for nearly four decades, until a restored and digitally remastered version was produced in 2015 by the National Library of Sweden. Directed by renowned Swedish director Bo Widerberg, the film -- which won the Jury Prize at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival -- is a dramatization of Hill's life, depicting his arrival as a poor immigrant in New York in 1902, his involvement with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and his trial for murder on trumped-up charges. Despite many pleas for mercy, including two from President Woodrow Wilson, he was executed by firing squad in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 15 November 1915. Among his last words were the exhortation "Don't waste any time in mourning. Organize..." Hill's ashes were sent to IWW locals, Wobblies and sympathizers around the world to be scattered on May Day 1916, but in 1988 one of the envelopes -- still containing Hill's ashes -- was discovered in the National Archives; it had been seized by the United States Post Office Department in 1917 because of its "subversive potential." DIR Bo Widerberg; SCR Bo Widerberg, Richard Weber Sweden/USA, 1971, color, 114 min; Drama Thommy Berggren, Anja Schmidt, Kelvin Malave See the trailer here |
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Wed, May 11, 7:15
Click here for tickets AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Downtown Silver Spring, MD Hosted by IFPTE (International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers) and SEIU (Service Employees International Union) Andrew Garfield makes a deal with the devil in this searing moral thriller – a bitter examination of One Percent corruption, personified by Michael Shannon’s duplicitous real estate shark. Co-stars Laura Dern. Ramin Bahrani’s visceral drama of real estate agency run amok is keenly honed to make your blood boil. Shannon is magnetic as Rick Carver, a reptilian broker who specializes in home foreclosure. Garfield plays one of his many victims, a hard-working tradesman who finds himself evicted from his home, only to then be offered work with Carver – doing unto others what’s just been done to him. Bahrani’s gripping premise is fuel for an enraged and enthralling indictment of the American wealth divide, heightened with the clammy pulse of a crime thriller. Garfield, channeling the wounded desperation of his star-making turn in The Social Network, is terrific as the everyman wrestling with a profound ethical conflict, but this is Shannon’s show – reining in his trademark histrionics for a coolly contained (but no less ominous) portrait of greedy malevolence. — JF, New Zealand International Film Festival DIR/SCR Ramin Bahrani; SCR Amir Ramin Bahrani/Naderi/Bahareh Azimi. Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon, Laura Dern U.S., 2015, color, 112 min. RATED R; Drama See the trailer here |
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Sat, May 14, 3:30p
$5 Tickets! AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Downtown Silver Spring, MD Early in his career, the Austrian-born future Oscar® winner Fred Zinnemann (A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY) co-directed this politically and emotionally searing drama with Emilio Gómez Muriel. In this vivid, documentary-like dramatization of the daily grind of men struggling to make a living by fishing in the Gulf of Mexico (mostly played by real-life fishermen), one worker’s terrible loss instigates a political awakening among his fellow laborers. A singular coming together of talents, the film, commissioned by a progressive Mexican government, was co-written and gorgeously shot by legendary photographer Paul Strand. The score by Silvestre Revueltas is considered a classic of film music. The newly released DVD from Naxos features a new recording of the score by DC's own PostClassical Ensemble (PCE), and will be available for purchase on site. DIR/SCR Emilio Gómez Muriel, Fred Zinnemann; SCR Henwar Rodakiewicz, Paul Strand, Agustín Velázquez Chávez; PROD Carlos Chávez. Mexico, 1936, b&w, 65 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED Genre: Drama Click here to see the trailer |
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Mon, May 16, 7:00
$5 Tickets! AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Downtown Silver Spring, MD Hosted by the DC Young Trade Unionists (DCYTU) and the NoVA Young Emerging Labor Leaders (NOVA Y.E.L.L.) Jason Schwartzman stars as Larry who, along with his trusty sidekick (Schwartzman's real-life French Bulldog, Arrow), goes through life as a misanthropic outcast, unable to retain employment or stable relationships - especially with his grandma, played with sharp timing and wit by Academy Award-winner Olympia Dukakis. Landing at a Quick Lube, Larry finds himself falling for his new boss Lupe (Eleanore Pienta). Part absurdist comedy and part character portrait, 7 Chinese Brothers is a unique tale of people stuck within the confines of normalcy while they represent anything but. Co-starring Tunde Adebimpe (TV on the Radio) and Alex Karpovsky from Girls. - rooftopfilms.com DIR/SCR Bob Byington US, 2015, color, 76 min; Comedy Jason Schwartzman, Stephen Root, Olympia Dukakis YOUNG UNIONISTS NIGHT AT THE MOVIES/HAPPY HOUR Mon, May 16, 5:30p; McGinty’s, 911 Ellsworth Dr, Silver Spring, MD 20910 RSVP here The DC Young Trade Unionists (DC YTU) and Northern Virginia Young Emerging Labor Leaders (NoVA YELL) host a Happy Hour with $3.50 drafts, $4 house wines, $4.50 cocktails and a $5 food menu, followed by the screening of 7 CHINESE BROTHERS at the AFI at 7:00p. SHERPA |
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Mon, May 9, 7:15
Click here for tickets AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Downtown Silver Spring, MD Mount Everest inspires numerous stories putting foreign climbers at the peak of attention. Sherpa shifts the focus to the Himalayan locals who do most of the heavy lifting on the mountain they call Chomolungma. Veteran director Jennifer Peedom follows an expedition with Phurba Tashi Sherpa, preparing for his world record-setting 22nd ascent as a guide. Shot in 2014, the film also documents unprecedented upheaval as an avalanche kills sixteen Sherpas and the tragedy incites others to challenge the status quo. In a film of nail-biting suspense and stunning cinematography, Peedom sensitively explores the complicated dynamics — social, environmental, economic, and political — that have, with increasing peril, turned Chomolungma/Everest into a big business. Her narrative skilfully covers a wide cast of characters: the Sherpas include committed old hands and rebellious newcomers, while the outsiders range from compassionate toward the locals, to clueless. The film compares Eastern versus Western views on how to regard the mountain. Writer Ed Douglas, interviewed in the film, fills in the history that led up to the clashes of 2014. The number of adventurers looking to climb Everest has grown dramatically over time. Aerial shots reveal that its treacherous pathways have become a traffic jam of climbers, as hundreds of thrill-seekers pay up to $75,000 while sherpas earn around $5,000 for an entire season's work. With the global rise of income inequality, Sherpa is particularly relevant as it details the stark contrast between those who undertake the hardest work and those who reap the benefits. - Thom Powers, TIFF DIR/SCR Jennifer Peedom Australia/Nepal, 2015, color, 96 min; Documentar SING FASTER: THE STAGEHAND’S RING CYCLE |
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Wed, May 4, 7:00
Click here for tickets AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Downtown Silver Spring, MD Hosted by the National Nurses United (NNU) and the Washington Teachers Union In the story of laundry worker Maud (Carey Mulligan), Suffragette reveals the working women whose actions for social justice were the foundation for the early feminist movement; they had seen peaceful protest achieve nothing and, inspired by leaders such as Emmeline Pankhurst, were radicalized and turned to violence as the only route to change. Set in London in 1912, the film is a fascinating evocation of life for woman across British society at the time, and brings us right up to date with on-going struggles faced by women around the world. Director Sarah Gavron and award-winning writer Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady, Shame) make strong and decisive dramatic choices by giving presence to the women that history remembers – Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep) and Emily Davison (Natalie Press) – while pivoting the story on an everywoman whose experience stands in for the many activists whose names have been lost, but whose actions have prevailed. Mulligan is transfixing in the central role, bringing vulnerability and strength to a character whose story is both heartbreaking and inspirational. DIR Sarah Gavron; SCR Abi Morgan Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff, Helena Bonham Carter U.K., 2015, color, 106 min. RATED PG-13; Drama Watch the trailer here. THE 33 |
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Mon, May 2, 7:00
Click here for tickets AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Downtown Silver Spring, MD Hosted by UFCW 1994/Municipal and County Government Employees Organization (MCGEO) In 2010, 33 Chilean miners were buried alive by the catastrophic explosion and collapse of a century-old gold and copper mine. Over the next 69 days, an international team worked night and day in a desperate attempt to rescue the trapped men as their families and friends, as well as millions of people globally, waited and watched anxiously for any sign of hope. But 200 stories beneath the surface, in the suffocating heat and with tensions rising, provisions—and time—were quickly running out. Starring Antonio Banderas and Juliette Binoche, this tense, dramatic thriller depicts the courage of both the miners and their families who refused to give up. DIR Patricia Riggen; SCR Mikko Alanne/Craig Borten Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro, Juliette Binoche US, Chile, 2015, color, 125 min. RATED PG-13; Drama TRUMBO (2015) |
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Fri, Apr 29, 7:00; Sun, May 1, 4:45p; Tue, May 3, 7:00
Click here for tickets AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Downtown Silver Spring, MD Hosted by SAG-AFTRA & the DC May Day Organizing Committee Bryan Cranston gives an Oscar®-nominated performance as the legendary blacklisted author and screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. He was one of Tinseltown's busiest and most versatile screenwriters throughout the 1940s, but that ended abruptly with the House Un-American Activities Committee's Communist witch-hunt and Hollywood's subsequent blacklist. Undeterred, Trumbo persevered: he worked for cheap, using aliases and front writers, on dozens of screenplays through the '50s. Hit movies — even Oscar® winners — were made from his screenplays, emboldening Hollywood to finally break the blacklist in 1960. The exquisite cast includes Diane Lane, Elle Fanning, John Goodman, Louis C.K., Michael Stuhlbarg and Helen Mirren. DIR Jay Roach; SCR/PROD John McNamara; SCR from the book by Bruce Cook; PROD Kevin Kelly Brown, Monica Levinson, Michael London, Nimitt Mankad, Shivani Rawat, Janice Williams. U.S., 2015, color, 124 min. RATED R TRUMBO (2007) |
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Sat, Apr 30, 4:45; Sun, May 1, 11:00 a.m.
$5 Tickets! AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Downtown Silver Spring, MD This documentary portrait of blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was written by his son Christopher and directed by Peter Askin. Like their previous collaboration, the off-Broadway play "Trumbo: Red, White and Blacklisted," the film relies heavily on the letters Trumbo wrote during the 1950s, here read by noted actors Michael Douglas, Joan Allen, Donald Sutherland, Liam Neeson and Paul Giamatti. David Strathairn delivers Trumbo's famed 1970 speech to the Writers Guild of America, a summing up of the tumultuous times of the preceding decades, and a plea for understanding. DIR Peter Askin; PROD Will Battersby, Tory Tunnell, David Viola, Al Klingenstein. U.S., 2007, b&w/color, 96 min. RATED PG-13 THE WORKING CLASS GOES TO HEAVEN aka LULU THE TOOL [LA CLASSE OPERAIA VA IN PARADISO] |
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Sun, May 22, 3:15
Click here for tickets AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Downtown Silver Spring, MD Overachieving auto worker Lulu (an outstanding Gian Maria Volontè) is a superstar on the factory floor, the darling of his employers and the envy of his fellow workers due to the ease of his production. But after he loses a finger in a work accident, he begins to question what it's all about, beginning a strange journey that will see him go on strike, get fired, take up with student Communists and eventually return to work more bewildered than enlightened. The film shared the Palme d’Or at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival with THE MATEI AFFAIR, which also starred Volontè. The score is by Ennio Morricone. DIR/SCR Elio Petri; SCR Ugo Pirro; PROD Ugo Tucci. Italy, 1971, color, 126 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED |
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