DC LABORFEST
Celebrating Labor Arts
Organized and presented by the Metropolitan Washington Council of the AFL-CIO, the 19th annual DC Labor FilmFest features a wide-ranging selection of films about work, workers and workers’ issues.
THE AMERICAN NURSE: Tue, May 14, 6:00p BLOOD ON THE MOUNTAIN: Mon, May 20, 7:00p BUILDING THE AMERICAN DREAM: Tue, May 21, 6:30pm – 8:00pm CALL ME INTERN: Fri, May 31, 12p THE CORPORATE COUP D’ÉTAT: Fri, Apr 26; 6:15p & Sat, Apr 27; 8:30p DEAR WALMART: Friday, May 3; 8:30p & Saturday, May 4; 4:15p STAND! Mon, April 29, 4pm ZERO WEEKS: America’s Leave Crisis and the Cost of Doing Nothing; Thu, May 16, 4:00pm – 5:30pm See below for detailed film write-ups and trailers, dates, times and links to RSVP. These screenings are all FREE except as noted. |
Tue, May 14, 6:00p; Busboys and Poets Takoma, 235 Carrol St NW, Washington, DC 20012
FREE; RSVP here Co-sponsored by the DC Nurses Association, National Nurses United, NUHHCE/AFSCME 1199 DC Metropolitan District and 1199 SEIU UHE- MD/DC Region Explores some of the biggest issues facing America - aging, war, poverty, prisons - through the work and lives of five nurses. Jason Short drives up a creek to reach a home-bound cancer patient in Appalachia. Tonia Faust runs a prison hospice program where inmates serving life sentences care for their fellow inmates as they're dying. Naomi Cross coaches patient Becky, an ovarian cancer survivor, through the Caesarean delivery of her son. Sister Stephen runs a nursing home filled with goats, sheep, llamas and chickens where the entire nursing staff comes together to sing to a dying resident. And Brian McMillion, an Army veteran and former medic, rehabilitates wounded soldiers returning from war. This film will change how we think about nurses and how we wrestle with the challenges of healing America. NOTE: Any nurse that watches the film will be able to get CE credits through Walden University. DIR/SCR: Carolyn Jones; U.S., 2014, 81 min, Documentary |
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Mon, May 20, 7:00 pm; optional vegan meal ($14) served from 6:30; New Deal Café, 113 Centerway, Roosevelt Center, Greenbelt, MD.
FREE ADMISSION Part of the “Reel & Meal at the New Deal” Café film and discussion series. Tells the story of coal-company grip on the mining communities of West Virginia, where a hard-working people with historically few choices have never benefited fairly from coal country's natural resources. It shows how outside corporations, abetted by politicians, have taken advantage of an undiversified economy. Blood on the Mountain reveals the rippling effect of environmental and economic injustice on all American workers. Production partners include the AFL-CIO, ACLU, Sierra Club, EarthJustice and a host of other advocacy organizations. DIR/SCR: Mari-Lynn C. Evans, Jordan Freeman; U.S., 2016, Not Rated, 1h 33min, doc https://youtu.be/fGBbZa6b_aU |
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Tue, May 21, 6:30pm – 8:00pm
Busboys and Poets, 235 Carroll St NW, Washington, DC 20012 FREE; RSVP here Co-sponsored by LiUNA Local 11; CSA's Building Futures/Women in the Trades In Texas, construction workers face the deadliest conditions in the country. This feature documentary follows three immigrant families who are rising up to seek justice and equality in an industry rife with exploitation. "An eye-opener about the abuse of workers whose immigration status makes them victims." — The Hollywood Reporter "Chelsea Hernandez tugs at our heartstrings and puts fuel to a fire of righteous anger." — FilmThreat This beautiful film shows how the cruel and the unscrupulous are willing to exploit undocumented workers. It shows the ugly tactic of wage theft in which companies refuse to pay workers and the cruel conditions that some workers face in unsafe workplaces in Texas. The film shares the heart-wrenching personal stories of some of the victims; it also shows the heroic work of the Workers Defense Project, which provides legal and political support for the workers. It shows their victorious campaign to win support for a Dallas ordinance that forced construction companies to provide workers with 10-minute break every 4 hours. The film presents the irony that many times these desperately poor workers are building the luxury high-rises for the wealthiest of Texans. Building the American Dream asks us to consider the cost of that American Dream which for many workers is really a nightmare. |
Fri, May 31, 12p – 1p; AFL-CIO, 815 16th Street NW, Washington DC
FREE but you must RSVP online here Meet the millennials fighting back against unpaid work. Call Me Intern follows three interns-turned-activists who refuse to accept that young people should have to work for free to kickstart their careers. Their stories challenge youth stereotypes and help give a voice to the growing movement for intern rights across the world. DIR Nathalie Berger, Leo David Hyde; 2019, Switzerland, New Zealand, 2019, English, 52 min. |
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Fri, Apr 26; 6:15 pm Landmark’s E Street Cinema Theater 3
Sat, Apr 27; 8:30 pm Landmark’s E Street Cinema Theater 3 Part of Filmfest DC Buy tickets here In Person: Director Fred Peabody, Executive Producer Jeff Cohen and The Intercept investigative journalist Lee Fang In 1995, philosopher John Ralston Saul argued that corporations were slowly taking over democracy. Today, Saul amends that statement, deleting the word "slowly." The coup has occurred: U.S. democracy has sold out its ideals to corporations and lobbyists whose goal it is to undermine the will of the people. From the makers of All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone (FFDC 2017), this trenchant film takes us into "sacrifice zones" like Camden, New Jersey, and Youngstown, Ohio, to really listen to the people forgotten by corporatized infrastructure and NAFTA. forgot. It blends their insights with those of philosophers, writers, and journalists, from the passionate investigator Chris Hedges to the poetic historian Cornell West, to lay out a compelling case history dating to the early postwar years and continuing (not ending) with Donald Trump in the White House. —Judy Bloch DIR Fred Peabody; Canada, 2018; 90 minutes, Color |
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Friday, May 3; 8:30 pm; Landmark E Street Cinema
Saturday, May 4; 4:15 pm; Landmark E Street Cinema Part of Filmfest DC; Buy tickets here bit.ly/dclf-walmart2019 In Person: directors Kiley Kraskouskas and Michael Blain with special guests Some workers love retail; it has its satisfactions. All they want is for retail to love them back - in the form of a living wage, affordable healthcare, a safe workplace, and underlying it all, respect. OURWalmart (OUR, Organization United for Respect) was begun in 2011 by a few brave workers at the world’s largest private employer, many of whose two million-strong “family” live near the poverty line. Alone at first, and ultimately with the help of established union veterans, they used word of mouth to gain hundreds of members and bring them together in training sessions that double as morale boosters, all done in secret. Dear Walmart (not entirely ironically titled) is an ultimately upbeat story of their personal empowerment and their first victory, a $9/hour minimum wage for some 500,000 people. But this win was followed by the retaliatory closure of five Walmart stores, a huge loss of jobs. Expect a sequel. —Judy Bloch DIR/PROD Kiley Kraskouskas and Michael Blain, USA, 2019, 62 minutes WATCH TRAILER HERE |
Mon, April 29, 4pm – 6pm
AFL-CIO, 815 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20005, USA (map) FREE; RSVP HERE NOTE: space is extremely limited. RSVP required. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis and not guaranteed. OPENING REMARKS: Richard Trumka, President, AFL-CIO FEATURED SPEAKERS: Robert Adetuyi, Director; Danny Schur, Producer/Composer Set in 1919, Stefan and his father, Mike, have left their family and Ukraine for the New World, where they struggle to earn enough to reunite with loved ones. Stefan is instantly smitten with his Jewish suffragette neighbor, Rebecca. But Rebecca’s brother, Moishe, and Mike oppose the would-be Romeo and Juliet. Returning soldiers, angry at the lack of jobs after the war, violently threaten the city’s immigrants, including Emma, the refugee who fled the Jim Crow era in Oklahoma. When a movement develops for all workers to leave their jobs in protest, AJ Anderson, a wealthy lawyer, pits all parties against each other in a dramatic and inspirational final stand. |
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Thu, May 16, 4:00pm – 5:30pm
The Economic Policy Institute 1225 I Street NW, Sixth floor Washington, DC 20005 (map) FREE; RSVP here The Economic Policy Institute invites you to their screening of their new film, Zero Weeks. This powerful film explores the severe emotional and financial distress caused by our country's lack of paid leave. Join EPI Senior Economist Elise Gould, Co-Director of Family Values @ Work, Ellen Bravo, and the film’s director, Ky Dickens, for an afternoon of powerful stories and insightful interviews with leading policymakers, economists, researchers, and activists. The movie will start promptly at 4 p.m. Snacks and beverages will be served during the film and a brief reception will follow the screening. |
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