Workers Unite Film Festival 2023

Welcome to the 2023 Workers Unite Film Festival online events watch page!
Tickets are now disabled for our main Season 12 festival films. Winners will be announced on our website (workersunitefilmfestival.org) in the later part of November, along with info on 2024 submissions. Questions? melanie@workersuniteff.org

Documentary Feature

The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales
Abigail Disney looks at America's dysfunctional and unequal economy and asks why the American Dream has worked for the wealthy, yet is a nightmare for people born with less.
86 min | 2022 | United States
The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales
Americonned
A film that explores the lives of empowered Americans taking back the middle class.
100 min | 2022 | United States
Americonned
City of Steel
The rise and decline of the steel industry ... by the steel workers themselves.
92 min | 2022 | United States
City of Steel
The Farmer-Labor Movement: A Minnesota Story
The Farmer-Labor movement founded the most successful third-party in U.S. political history, advancing political change in Minnesota from 1917 until it merged with the Democrats in 1944.
57 min | 2022 | United States
The Farmer-Labor Movement: A Minnesota Story
Moments with Mujica
A documentary interview with the former president of Uruguay, Jose 'Pepe' Mujica, in which he discusses art, literature, philosophy, and the global challenges that face humanity.
44 min | 2023 | Uruguay
Moments with Mujica
Rabble Rousers: Frances Goldin and the Fight for Cooper Square
A housing organizer and her working class Lower East Side neighbors fight the real estate industry and five mayors to create the first Community Land Trust in NYC, and oasis of permanent low-income housing.
83 min | 2022 | United States
Rabble Rousers: Frances Goldin and the Fight for Cooper Square
The Revolt of the Good Guys
Letter carriers in 1970 strike against the federal government, forcing Nixon to come to the table and meet their demands.
86 min | 2022 | United States
The Revolt of the Good Guys
Revolutionary Hearts
David and Janet Greene are life-long community activists, teaching and learning with those around them to build a collective knowledge for liberation.
57 min | 2022 | United States
Revolutionary Hearts
Stonebreakers
A haunting documentary that calls into question the very concept of America and the exaltation of historical figures such as Chris Columbus.
70 min | 2022 | United States
Stonebreakers
Storming Caesars Palace
Ruby Duncan and a band of mothers launch a revolutionary Black feminist anti-poverty movement in the 1960s & 1970s.
87 min | 2022 | United States
Storming Caesars Palace

Doc Short

20 Dollar Gift Card
A maintenance technician's story reveals the inequities in the treatment of workers in the U.S.
8 min | 2023 | United States
20 Dollar Gift Card
Berlin
The harrowing journey of migrant workers who are trafficked through Iran and Turkey in an attempt to reach Europe for a better life.
41 min | 2023 | Pakistan
Berlin
Dark Denim
Aldo El Creator, a Mexican immigrant and clothing designer in Los Angeles, faces numerous challenges and uplifts his family's financial situation.
35 min | 2023 | United States
Dark Denim
The Exchange Girl
A short documentary about women working in dangerous conditions in silent film post-production.
10 min | 2023 | United States
The Exchange Girl
Fault Lines from the Front Line
Shocking stories from frontline workers in Ontario reveal fault lines in the system exacerbated by COVID-19.
26 min | 2023 | Canada
Fault Lines from the Front Line
Fighting Back
Jessica Ng teaches self-defense classes that empower AAPI women at a time of an alarming rise of Anti-Asian hate crimes in New York City.
12 min | 2023 | United States
Fighting Back
Film Noir Cinema
A profile of the owner of Film Noir Cinema, a movie theater and rental location in Brooklyn.
13 min | 2023 | United States
Film Noir Cinema
Fireburn: The Documentary
Historians discuss 'Fireburn', a bloody labor revolt that occurred on the island of St. Croix in 1878 among four female sugar cane workers.
22 min | 2021 | Virgin Islands, U.S.
Fireburn: The Documentary
Forged In Steel
The history and importance of the Bethlehem Steel company, which made America what it is today.
8 min | 2023 | United States
Forged In Steel
The Last Cobbler
Nearing retirement without a successor, the last independent shoe-repairman in Ithaca, NY balances his needs with those of the community.
16 min | 2023 | United States
The Last Cobbler
Made In Italy (By the Chinese)
The fascinating story of how migrants from a few villages in rural China became instrumental to the Italian fashion industry.
31 min | 2023 | Italy, China
Made In Italy (By the Chinese)
Meeting Human Needs
An examination of the schemes used by conservative governments to privatize public services and the negative consequences.
19 min | 2022 | Canada
Meeting Human Needs
Moments with Mujica
A documentary interview with the former president of Uruguay, Jose 'Pepe' Mujica, in which he discusses art, literature, philosophy, and the global challenges that face humanity.
44 min | 2023 | Uruguay
Moments with Mujica
Silvio Rodriguez: My First Calling
Silvio Rodriguez reflects upon his experience as a 14 yr old teaching a rural family how to read and write during the 1961 Cuban Literacy Campaign.
26 min | 2020 | Cuba
Silvio Rodriguez: My First Calling
Talking Union, Talking Climate
A refinery worker from California, a rig mechanic from Norway, and a fluids engineer from Nigeria meet on Zoom to discuss climate change and labor conditions.
15 min | 2023 | United States, Nigeria, Norway
Talking Union, Talking Climate
Where Have All the Smiles Gone?
Nepali migrant workers pursue a better life abroad in the Middle East but often end up deprived of their human rights or dead.
30 min | 2023 | Nepal
Where Have All the Smiles Gone?

Narrative Feature

Films from the Frontlines

"The Whole American Workforce Needs to Hear This Right Now"
Autoworkers are taking solidarity to another level. They told us this strike isn't just about them — it's about fighting for workers across America.
5 min | 2023 | United States
"The Whole American Workforce Needs to Hear This Right Now"
“No Deal, No Wheels”: Autoworkers Break Down Why They’re on Strike
The United Auto Workers are striking against Ford, GM, and Stellantis - all at the same time - and fighting for the whole working class.
7 min | 2023 | United States
“No Deal, No Wheels”: Autoworkers Break Down Why They’re on Strike
Exclusive Interview: Shawn Fain's Vision for UAW
The United Auto Workers have elected reformer Shawn Fain as their new president. He speaks about the future of UAW and unions in America.
7 min | 2023 | United States
Exclusive Interview: Shawn Fain's Vision for UAW
How AI Could KILL Your Favorite TV show
Actors are fighting to regulate the use of AI in TV and save the industry from itself.
13 min | 2023 | United States
How AI Could KILL Your Favorite TV show
NYSNA Strike Victory 2023
7000 nurses, 2 hospitals, and 3 epic days on the picket line. Watch the story of why NYC nurses went on strike.
2 min | 2023 | United States
NYSNA Strike Victory 2023
Say Their Names
The stories of 16 people killed by the police is told along with poetic context, using images from 27 Black Lives Matter Protests.
10 min | 2022 | United States
Say Their Names
What GM Doesn't Want You to Know
Federal funding for electric vehicle manufacturing was supposed to create thousands of good-paying, union jobs. But workers at Ultium Cells, which makes electric batteries for GM, reveal a different story.
9 min | 2023 | United States
What GM Doesn't Want You to Know
What Jeep Doesn’t Want You to Know
For years, Jeep has relied on an army of “temp” workers who make half the rate of their “full-time” coworkers for the same job.
6 min | 2023 | United States
What Jeep Doesn’t Want You to Know
Why Actors Are Striking For The First Time In 40 Years
Streaming has broken the TV and film industry. Successful actors are working second jobs. Some received no residuals from Netflix shows with millions of viewers and many have no health insurance.
7 min | 2023 | United States
Why Actors Are Striking For The First Time In 40 Years

Online Exclusive