2009 Geneva Labour Film Shorts film festival
More
and more, unions around the world are using film and video to explain
issues and further their work. The third annual Geneva Labour Film
Shorts film festival features films by, for, and about unions and
working people. Spanning the globe, fourteen films will be presented
addressing key issues facing unions such as organising,
corporate greed, precarious work, and equality for all workers.
Following the shorts, a feature presentation of Black Badge by Korean filmmaker Jungmin Choi will be shown which documents the brutal treatment irregular workers face in Korea and the extreme measures the workers have taken to win equality.
This year's
jury is made up of members of the Global Union Communicator's Task
Force. The jury awarded the International Transport Workers'
Federation's Abandoned, not forgotten as BEST Labour Film Short of 2009.
WHAT: Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival
WHERE: Grütli Theatre, Rue du General-Dufour 16, Geneva
WHEN: June 16 from 19h00 to 22h00, open reception at 18h30
Admission is free.
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The programme for the 2009 Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival is as follows:
Mittal's gain, Workers' pain
EMF, Belgium, 2009 (8 min)
The
film is part of a series about industrial actions taken by the European
Metalworkers' Federation with the aim to highlight the difficult state
the metalworking industry is in and to show that workers are stronger
together. The EMF uses it with affiliates and work council members to
strengthen moral and to show that the struggle is not about only one
plant but that the fight concerns all workers at ArcelorMittal around
the globe.
Organising QW
UNI, Chile and Peru (5.30 min)
Since
2002, UNI Graphical has been campaigning for the signing of a global
agreement on labour rights with the multinational Quebecor World. Trade
unions worldwide are calling on the company to respect basic ILO
standards. The film follows this struggle.
Women at Work
ITUC, Global , 2009 (1.27 min)
A
short with a humorous edge about the importance of maternity
protection, released on 5 March, 2009 by the International Trade Union
Confederation.
No to Child Labour, Yes to Education: Teachers’ unions working to prevent school dropouts
EI, Morocco, 2008 (9.45 min)
Child
labour is one of the biggest obstacles to Education International’s aim
of building a world in which every child has access to free, quality
public education. In Morocco, where thousands of children every year
are forced to drop out of primary school and go to work to help support
their families, the Syndicat national de L’Enseignement (SNE) has had
great success with its program to fight child labour by keeping
children in school. The film follows Sara, who was compelled into
domestic servitude because her family could no longer afford to feed
her. With the help of the union, Sara is now back in school and working
towards her dream of becoming a paediatrician.
Stand Up for Journalism
IFJ, Global (3.32 min)
Widespread
cuts in jobs and budgets are seriously damaging the media industry,
increasing the strain on journalists, publishing and media workers and
compromising the quality and standards of the news and information.
Casualisation, increasing concentration of media ownership and
profiteering are affecting the ability of journalists and publishing
workers to maintain professional standards, with damaging consequences
for our democracy. The film is part of a campaign of the International
Federation of Journalists, calling on media owners to stop cutting
jobs, pay, and resources and start investing more in quality media.
Nursing in Britain
PSI, UK, 2008 (7 min)
Directed and produced by Mat Haywood and Lihee Avidan for Channel 4TV
Two
of four stories about migrant health care workers in England, the films
show a brief look at how migrant workers contribute to the labour force
in the NHS and the connection between working abroad and the life they
have left behind. Produced with the assistance of Public Services
International.
Jaan Hai To Jahan Hai
INMF, India (19 min)
A
health and safety film used by the Indian National Mineworkers’
Federation to educate workers about the consequences of not following
health and safety rules and best practices. The film’s use of local
language, traditions and entertainment value has proved successful in
reaching workers in the mining sector that often come from rural or
agrarian backgrounds. Jaan Hai to Jahan Hai is one of several
documentaries the INMF has been actively involved in producing
regarding workers’ health and safety.
Union Roadshow: Organising EPZ workers in Indonesia
IMF, Indonesia, 2009 (10 min)
It
has always been extremely difficult for unions to organise EPZ workers,
with employers and even governments crushing unionisation
attempts. But in Indonesia, unions are helping workers to move
from temporary contracts to permanent employment. Wages are increasing
and so is union membership. Premiered at the International
Metalworkers’ Federation’s World Congress, Union Roadshow shows that
there are reasons to be optimistic about the possibility of unionising
EPZs, and aims to inspire unions in other parts of the world to
intensify their efforts to organise EPZ workers.
It’s An Attack
USW, USA and Global, 2008 (7.32 min)
From
Seattle and the WTO, to Mexico and the struggles of Los Mineros, to
Colombia and the brutal murders of trade union activists, It’s an
Attack highlights the global attack on workers and the ongoing activism
of the United Steelworkers in fighting for the rights of all workers,
in the U.S. and around the world. The video premiered at the USW 2008
Convention.
The Mall
World Health Organisation and Video 48, Israel, 2006 (13 min)
Directed by Yonatan Ben Efrat
At
one of central Israel's largest junctions, in a surreal underground
world, live hundreds of Palestinian workers in hiding in order to find
a day's work and bring something home to their families in the West
Bank. Deep in the concrete skeleton of an abandoned shopping mall, the
workers sleep during the week. Those who have been arrested in the past
confirm that the mall is worse than jail, yet they don't ask for
freedom - they only want a day's work.
Documentary on the lives of contract workers in cement MNCs in India
ICEM, India, 2009 (14 min)
The film documents the lives of contract workers in the cement industry in India.
Abandoned, not forgotten: The plight of Burma’s migrant fishers
ITF, Burma and Thailand, 2008 (11 min)
Official Jury’s Selection, BEST Labour Film Short
A
special report of the International Transport Workers’ Federation about
Burma’s migrant fishers. Undocumented Burmese fishermen suffer brutal
treatment at the hands of their Thai bosses. Seafarer unions are
working to expose these crimes and help Burmese workers in the fishing
industry win basic rights and worker protections.
The Job
Screaming Frog productions, USA, 2007 (3.10 min)
Written and directed by Jonathan Browning
Winning
more than 30 awards at film festivals around the world, Browning’s
short is a biting satire on US immigration policy and the global
economic crisis.
FEATURE PRESENTATION
Black Badge
By Jungmin Choi, South Korea, 2008 (38 min)
Fired
for trying to organise a union, contract workers at GM Daewoo go to
extreme measures, holding a sit-in strike from the perch of a CCTV
tower. With undertones of Michael Moore’s Roger and Me, the film
exposes the brutal treatment irregular workers face in their struggle