2009 Geneva Labour Film Shorts 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 Britain
PSI, UK, 2008 (7 min)
The films were produced with the help of CBA - Commonwealth Broadcasting Association
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 for equality.Jun 08, 2009 – Kristyne Peter