Need some ideas for films to watch over Labor Day weekend? Southern Documentary Fund has selected 5 extraordinary documentaries about workers and their fight to change things for the better.
ROGER & ME (1989)
Director: Michael Moore
Logline: Michael Moore’s controversial but popular film is a highly personal, wryly humorous look at the closing of several General Motors plants in Flint, Michigan.
Watch: Rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video
THE HAND THAT FEEDS (2015)
Directors: Rachel Lears, Robin Blotnick
Logline: Shy sandwich-maker Mahoma Lopez unites his undocumented immigrant coworkers to fight abusive conditions at a popular New York restaurant chain. The epic power struggle that ensues turns a single city block into a battlefield in America’s new wage wars.
Watch: Rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video
AMERICAN FACTORY (2019)
Directors: Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar
Logline: In this documentary, hopes soar when a Chinese company reopens a shuttered factory in Ohio. But a culture clash threatens to shatter an American dream.
Watch: Available to stream on Netflix
HARVEST SEASON (2019)
Director: Bernardo Ruiz
Logline: California’s Napa and Sonoma Valleys are known for wine making. The industry’s heroes are small producers and workers who oversee all aspects of the process. Harvest Season follows three people through a challenging and dramatic harvest.
Watch: Rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video
9TO5: THE STORY OF A MOVEMENT (2020)
Directors: Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar
Logline: In this documentary, female office workers in ‘70s Boston inspire change with a call for better pay, more opportunities and an end of sexual harassment.
Watch: Available to stream on Netflix
