Power At Work is thrilled to announce that we will co-sponsor three films at the DC Labor FilmFest that begins on International Workers’ Day, May 1, 2025:
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“Lilly,” on the festival’s opening night–May 1st,
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“Clockwatchers,” on May 4th, and
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“La Cocina,” on May 14th.
Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris will help to present each of these three films. The DC Labor FilmFest will show all its films at the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The DC Labor FilmFest is organized and presented by the Labor Heritage Foundation and AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center. The festival will run from May 1st to May 29th. We strongly encourage all our readers and subscribers who live in the greater Washington D.C. metropolitan area to buy their tickets for the festival’s movies to see films about work, workers, and the wider issues affecting workers' lives. If you are a union member, bring your union card to the festival and claim a special discount!
Power At Work is pleased to offer one free ticket to each of the Power-At-Work-sponsored movies to the first 10 Power At Work subscribers who write to us at [email protected]. This is a strictly first-come, first-served invitation. Please include the name of the movie you would like to attend. Sorry, but we can offer only one ticket to one movie per request.
The good news is we’re not asking anything in return for your free tickets, but we would appreciate your help recruiting your friends, family, neighbors, and union siblings to subscribe to Power At Work. Ask them to go to the front page and fill out the subscription pop-up box or the subscription box at the bottom of the page.
LILLY - Thursday, May 1, 7:00 PM (Opening Night)
“To provide a better life for her family, Lilly Ledbetter (Patricia Clarkson) spent the better part of two decades working up the ladder at an Alabama tire factory. But for the sake of her paycheck, she had to face a dehumanizing work environment plagued by harassment. As her retirement approaches, Lilly makes a startling revelation — the company has been paying her only half of what her male counterparts receive. Outraged, and with the support of her husband (John Benjamin Hickey) and a brilliant civil rights lawyer (Thomas Sadoski), Lilly's fight for justice takes her to the Supreme Court, Congress and all the way to the White House. Featuring tour-de-force performances and a heart-stirring love story at its center, ‘LILLY’ follows the transformation of an ordinary citizen into the face of equal pay, illuminating the courageous, personal cost of activism.”
CLOCKWATCHERS - Monday, May 5, 6:50 PM
“‘OFFICE SPACE’ meets ‘GIRLFRIENDS’ in the 1997 workplace dramedy ‘CLOCKWATCHERS.’ Temp worker Margaret (Parker Posey) feels jilted after a new employee is hired for a permanent position she was vying for. Her friends — Iris (Toni Collette), Paula (Lisa Kudrow) and Jane (Alanna Ubach) — want to help out, but their relationships are tested when a series of thefts wreak havoc on the workplace. Boasting an incredible cast, a sharp script and a surprisingly bittersweet tone, ‘CLOCKWATCHERS’ is nothing short of a great time at the movies.”
LA COCINA - Wednesday, May 14, 6:40 PM
“Mexican auteur Alonso Ruizpalacios brings new meaning to kitchen-sink realism with his adaptation of British playwright Arnold Wesker's 'The Kitchen,' transferring the action from mid-century London to present-day New York City to craft a tragicomic tribute to life behind the scenes of a busy Times Square restaurant. Shifting between the balletic machinations of a kitchen during the lunchtime rush and the explosive interpersonal conflicts boiling just beneath the surface of its well-oiled routine, Ruizpalacios channels THE BEAR as if reimagined by John Cassavetes, creating a high-wire drama that explores the illusions of the American dream and the lengths to which the kitchen's working class and largely undocumented staff must go to achieve it. At the heart of the brilliant ensemble cast is Raúl Briones (A COP MOVIE) as Mexican chef Pedro, a fiery-tempered dreamer entangled in a turbulent affair with Julia (Oscar®-nominated actress Rooney Mara), a harried waitress with her own crosses to bear. When $800 goes missing and everyone becomes a suspect, the resulting tension threatens to push the kitchen's unrelenting pace and hierarchical divisions further into chaos.”
Power at Work looks forward to seeing you at the DC Labor FilmFest on May 1st, 4th, and 14th!