Programs/Tickets at https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/workers-unite-film-festival-season-15-2026-4880509

32 Years On Board (33m)
Directed by: Naomi Goldziuk
Documentary Short (2025) France
Online Only - Eventive 10/30-11/5

Aboard a deep-sea trawler, a crew of 4 fishermen set off for a 15 day trip out to sea. Day and night, they work to the throbbing rhythm of the machines and the sea. At night, during watch-keeping hours, their minds wander and fragments of stories emerge, somewhere between a quest for freedom and social fatality.

70% Informals (47m)
Directed by: Felipe Ibarguen
Documentary Short (2026) Greece, Germany, Mexico, Peru, Tunisia, U.S.
Program 9 and 15

70% Informals is an eye-opening journey into the invisible epidemic shaping our planet — informality. Encounters across Greece, Tunisia, Peru, Mexico, the United States, and Germany expose a hidden world where nearly three out of every five people live and work outside the formal economy — without rights, recognition, or security.

From street vendors and undocumented migrants to renowned thinkers and policymakers, the stories reveal how informality traps billions in cycles of uncertainty and exclusion — not only in the Global South, but also in the world’s wealthiest nations. Immersing audiences in the emotional and economic toll of this silent crisis, the film makes vivid what it truly means to live on society’s margins.

Yet, amid the despair, hope emerges. With her innovative framework, acclaimed economist Elena Panaritis demonstrates that transformation is not only possible — it’s within reach. She reveals how entire nations can lift their citizens from the shadows of informality into the dignity and stability of the middle class, and dares us to imagine a world where no one is left invisible.

A Beast Touch the Mountain: Mountain Valley Pipeline and the Fight for Appalachia (1 hr 24m)
Directed by: James Mottern
Documentary Feature (2025)
Program 5

A band of Appalachian women in Bent Mountain, Virginia fight for a decade to protect their land and their way of life against a greedy and corrupt natural gas pipeline corporation that threatens the environment and the lives of tens of thousands throughout Virginia and West Virginia.

Through the judicial system and civil disobedience the women of Bent Mountain, along with thousands of others, struggle against the corrupt business practices and political payoffs of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a company that has skirted environmental laws and enlisted politicians to do their bidding to take people’s land and construct an arguably unnecessary and environmentally destructive pipeline that enriches a handful of CEOs and their political allies in Washington on both sides of the aisle.

This timely film is an emotional and unflinching look at how money, politics and greed affect everyday Americans in an increasingly corporate-dominated world and how, despite the odds, just showing up for each other is winning.

A Collective Future (28m)

Directed by: Stephanie Houten

Documentary Short (2025)

Program 10 and 15

This bold new film follows three Boston-area organizers who share a powerful “resist and build” practice. When the current economic system threatened their home, workplace, and safety, they strategically leveraged their organizing experience to fight for and win community ownership. Their inspiring stories light the way toward a future where our housing, workplaces, and public funds are collectively controlled by the people, not billionaires and elites.

Against the Wind (35m)

Directed by: Felix Chou

Documentary Short (2026) Taiwan

Program 18

In a city of endless deliveries, two thirty-years-old riders - one burdened by debt, the other fueled by hope - cling to a quiet but enduring friendship as they dream of escaping a life stuck in motion.

All That Separates Us Is Distance (34m)

Directed by: Andy Smythe

Documentary Short (2026) Ghana, Indonesia, U.K.

Program 10

All that Separates Us Is Distance tells the stories of Emmanuel, Dede and James as they work to make a living in the fishing industry in the small communities where they live. The film explores their family and community lives in a story about resilience, connection and relationships. At the beginning, the geographic distance seems immense but by the end, it’s clear that more unites these fishers than separates them.

American Hate: Survivors Speak (1 hr 28m)

Directed by: Harry Gantz and Arjun Sethi

Documentary Feature (2025)

Program 20

American Hate exposes the rise of violent hate crimes in America, through the lens of the victims and their families. These first person accounts give viewers an opportunity to see, hear, and feel what it means to be targeted on account of who you are or what you believe. The film moves from the scene of each crime to its long-term consequences: the grief, the haunting memories, and the permanent rupture in everyday life. Yet despite the devastation, survivors and their communities have discovered a renewed sense of purpose to advocate, organize, and seek justice.

An Ordinary Insanity (27m)

Directed by: Judith Irene Ehrlich

Documentary Short (2025)

Program 3

Before he released the secret history of the Vietnam War and became the most renowned whistleblower of the 20th century, Daniel Ellsberg was a nuclear war planner. He not only spirited thousands of pages of the Pentagon Papers out of his safe at the Rand Corporation but also an equally damning treasure trove of nuclear secrets. Before he passed away in 2023, he spoke directly and passionately to camera about his deep regrets and specific proposals for controlling the Doomsday Machine. Ellsberg spent the last 50 years of his life working tirelessly against nuclear weapons and war. In the process, he was arrested over 80 times for civil disobedience. In this short documentary, Ellsberg lays out key facts about the planetary threat of nuclear war and talks about how to reduce the real and present risk of nuclear annihilation.

Architecture Workers: Organizing for Change (50m)

Directed by: Valérie Lechêne

Documentary Feature (2026)

Program 9

In an industry notorious for long hours, unpaid overtime, and precarious employment, architectural workers are fighting back. This documentary follows members of The Architecture Lobby, a grassroots labor organization, as they organize for better working conditions within a profession shaped by systemic inequity and a broken market. Through seven chapters, the film reveals how architects, critics, educators, and our fellow workers across related trades are using unions, cooperatives, and grassroots organizing to transform their field.

Bring Them Home (8m)

Directed by: Matt Reynolds

Documentary Short (2026)

Program 7 and 20

Alex and Yan fled persecution in Cuba to marry in the U.S.. When the federal government suddenly detains them and threatens deportation, their union comes together in an unprecedented way to fight for their release, illuminating the human cost of immigration policy and the power of community action.

Crusty Old Bastard (14m)

Directed by: Joey Whitelaw

Documentary Short (2025) Canada

Program 18

As an aging Canadian truck driver embarks on a cross-border haul to the U.S., he reflects on a lifetime spent on the open road - revisiting memories of solitude, sacrifice, and the ever-changing landscape of the industry that shaped his life.

Delivered (45m)

Directed by: Fabian Grieger and Jan Wiese

Documentary Short (2025) Germany

Program 18

In many German cities, bicycle couriers deliver burgers, pizza, and other food to people's homes. Thousands of these riders come from India, lured by the promise of studying in Germany, and have incurred heavy debts.

Disobeying Orders: G.I. Resistance to the Vietnam War (29m)

Directed by: Pam Sporn

Documentary Short (2026)

Program 3

Disobeying Orders highlights the antiwar movement within the armed forces during the Vietnam War. Remastered to 4K and re-released in 2026, the film interweaves interviews with Vietnam veterans, archival photos, film footage, and popular music of the 1960's. It highlights the intersection of the civil rights and antiwar movements, and the ethics of whether to follow orders that one feels are immoral.

Don't Pull Us Apart! (6m)

Directed by: Linh Phung

Narrative Short (2026)

Program 4

When Corn, Bean, and Squash are forced to grow apart on a “perfect” farm, the three vegetable sisters fight back and discover that they’re stronger together. The film explores what happens when greed through monoculture farming replaces communal values and care for one another. Rather than framing this as “capitalism,” the story looks at a system that prioritizes efficiency and profit over relationships, and how those systems can feel isolating, even for these vegetable characters.

Full Belly, Happy Heart (Barriga Llena, Corazón Contento) (17m)

Directed by: Jordana Rubenstein-Edberg and Marshall Hanig

Documentary Short (2026)

Program 10 and 11

Full Belly, Happy Heart is a chorus of stories from the organizers of Fenix Community Fridge, a grassroots food pantry in Ridgewood, Queens, run out of a local car service. The film interweaves migration journeys, home-made meals, and the everyday acts of care that bind a community together.

Gabe's Last Leg (10m)

Directed by: Loren Zoltan

Documentary Short (2026)

Program 21

A young optimistic service worker loses his leg to a rare bone-eating tumor while trying to keep it together at his lowest point with no help from his employer.

Hostile Work Environment (7m)

Directed by: Dawn Jones Redstone

Narrative Short (2026)

Program 1 and 6

When fridge politics spiral out of control, Liza isn’t sure if her passive-aggressive co-worker is just a jerk or actually undead. With barricades, microaggressions, and donuts on the line, survival in this office comedy gets gross.

How They Built A Movement (9m)

Directed by: Oddett Garza

Documentary Short (2025)

Program 17

In How They Built A Movement, a young activist sits down with renowned civil rights attorney Jim Harrington, founder of the Texas Civil Rights Project and Texas attorney to César Chávez, to learn the enduring lessons of grassroots organizing. Through personal reflection and archival context, the film seeks to bridge generations, linking Harrington’s early fights for farmworkers’ rights to today’s ongoing struggles for justice, equity, and human dignity.

Humors (13m)

Directed by: Meredith Celeste Lawder
Narrative Short (2026)

Program 2 and 6

A young woman with a chronic, mysterious illness, attempts to navigate remission when a flare-up threatens her delicate work-life balance.

I'm Going to Be A Diamond Some Day (27m)

Directed by: Jeremy Drummond and David Poolman

Documentary Short (2026)

Program 5

Frank Newsome was born in Pike County, KY in 1942 and was one of twenty-two children who grew-up in the Old Regular Baptist Church. Following in the footsteps of his father, Frank worked as a coal miner and, after almost two decades in the mines, contracted black lung and was forced to retire.

I’m Going to Be A Diamond Someday combines an intimate interview with Frank Newsome with footage captured throughout the towns and coalfields of central Appalachia; both before and after the catastrophic floods of 2022. Issues of family, faith, community, and politics are explored through the realities of economics, industry, and climate change.

IATSE Local 52 Labor Day Parade 2025 (6m)

Directed by: Max Frankston

Documentary Short (2026)

Program 2 and 13

IATSE Local 52 members celebrate Labor Day in NYC by marching with their float up Fifth Avenue.

IBEW Local 3 Apprentice Shorts (1 hr 10m)

Directed by: Various

Films from the Frontlines (2025-2026)

Program 13

A collection of 5-6 min long frontline films centered on union life and being an apprentice electrician in IBEW Local 3. Using only a smartphone, SUNY Van Arsdale students are taught how to shoot and edit video in order to depict a personal truth that might otherwise be framed incorrectly in the mainstream media, where stories about workers and their unions are often distorted and untruthful.

Jam Boy (22m)

Directed by: Sriram Emani

Narrative Short (2026)

Program 6

In a near-future America, Sriram has built his life around being the ideal immigrant: hardworking, useful, and endlessly compliant. But when a bureaucratic restriction prevents him from returning home, the promise of opportunity begins to unravel. Through cooking his mother’s tamarind rice, he reconnects with family, memory, and parts of himself that his optimized life has pushed aside. Blending speculative fiction with warmth, humor, and ancestral food, Jam Boy explores the hidden limits placed on immigrant workers and the emotional cost of doing everything right.

Key(stone) Lime(stone) (4m)

Directed by: Anne Ciecko

Documentary Short (2025)

Program 13

Histories and memories of industry (especially cement manufacturing in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania), domestic labor, immigration, and family are entwined in a merging of narrative poetry, stop motion animation (melding mineral and organic materials), and documentary-style video footage.

Knowing From the Inside: A Portrait of The Music Inn (25m)

Directed by: Emilio Tamburini

Documentary Short (2026)

Program 3

The Music Inn is one of the oldest music stores in New York City. It preserves, sells and restores traditional instruments from around the world. This film takes us on a journey through sound as it emerges from the encounter between musical instruments and humans. Along the way, we get to know the characters who keep this space alive as a haven for playfulness, community-making and repair.

Life Forgotten (51m)

Directed by: Zoe Beloff

Narrative Feature (2025)

Program 17

Situating archival film in parallel with reenactment, the film conjures up New York’s Lower East Side in the early years of the twentieth century. It centers on a real storefront cinema, Frank Seiden’s Variety Theater. Here, silent movies were anything but. Frank and his sons improvised dialog for the films and sang Yiddish ballads to an audience that didn’t hesitate to join in or argue back. It was a welcoming space for women and the film follows a group of radical young garment workers who gather here to figure out how to fight for women’s rights and change their world. Young activist Clara Lemlich and her friends confront social issues which are still very much alive, including the problem of wage theft, the fight for unionization, and workplace harassment.

Long Live the Factory! (1 hr 20m)

Directed by: Marko Nikolić

Documentary Feature (2026) Serbia

Program 16

Long Live the Factory! is a documentary film about a factory, once a chemical industry giant of Yugoslavia, and its former workers. Aleksandar Kostić found tens of thousands of slides and negatives taken by factory photographers in various periods of its existence. Whenever he would hear the stories about the factory, Aleksandar wondered – why is there so much talk about it? Are those stories even true, or is it just nostalgia for the “good old days”? He spent years searching for the answers, hoping to get at least close to finding them.

Mentira (4m)

Directed by: Marcos Tabera

Music Video (2025)

Program 14

"Lie" is a song born from the need to express a reality overwhelmed by barbarity, sustained by false narratives that confuse, paralyze, and blind, with abysses of fog and serpentine clouds that leave eyes closed. Blues created collaboratively by Marcos Tabera, Nico Mavrich, and Oscar García.

Michael: Now and Then (57m)

Directed by: Ramin Niami

Documentary Feature (2026) U.K.

Program 19

Nearly 50 years after his breakout thesis short film MICHAEL, a 16mm docudrama shot in South Wales about a young man (Michael) and his miner father, director Ramin Niami returns to discover what has happened to the community since, particularly following the closure of the coal mines. The film integrates scenes from the original short film alongside archival imagery and new digital material.

Nane Karim (51m)

Directed by: Omid Ghozatlou
Documentary Short (2026) Iran

Program 12

Nane Karim follows Karim, a former bartender at prestigious international hotels whose profession became forbidden after Iran's 1979 revolution. Nane Karim portrays a man whose endless generosity has always been overlooked. The core theme is loneliness amidst kindness—a man who sent his family toward a better future while staying behind, alone. The film speaks only through Karim's behavior, words, and daily life—a quiet portrait of resilience and hope.

Organize or Die: The Story of Local 78 (33m)

Directed by: Pat Byrne

Documentary Short (2026)

Program 8

In 1996, thirteen hundred NYC hazardous waste workers told the industry they had enough …

They wanted a UNION. This is the story of Local 78 and the largest organizing campaign in the history of LiUNA.

Outgrow the System (58m)

Directed by: Cecilia Paulsson and Anders Nilsson

Documentary Feature (2025) Sweden

Program 4

Beyond the narrow mainstream debate and the teachings of business schools, numerous new economic ideas and practices are emerging. They challenge old assumptions and offer fresh perspectives on how we can reorganize our production and consumption to ensure our survival as a species on this planet.

Paper Promises (10m)

Directed by: Grayson Kisker and Grant O'Brien

Documentary Short (2025)

Program 21

For Over 200 years, the Mead paper mill was the backbone of Chillicothe, Ohio — a source of good jobs, generational pride, and a town’s identity. In August 2025, that legacy is torn as the mill’s closure leaves more than 800 workers without jobs and a community reeling. More than just the story of a factory shutting down, Paper Promises is about broken trust, economic displacement, and the quiet resilience of a town determined to write its own future.

Permit (Capo) (1 hr 23m)

Directed by: Robert Kwilman

Narrative Feature (2025) Poland

Program 14

Adrián, a young man from Colombia, works far from home in Poland, mediating between the company that employs him and the workers who trust him. He believes he can balance both worlds — until a workplace accident uncovers the quiet brutality beneath the surface. He must then decide where his loyalty truly lies.

Public Servants: The People Who Kept Diplomacy Working (3m)

Directed by: Jonny Meyer and Steve Jeter

Documentary Short (2026)

Program 9 and 15

Since July 2025, the U.S. government has fired more than 5,000 career experts at the State Department and USAID - a small but critical fraction of the 300,000 - plus public servants who have lost their jobs since January 2025. Public Servants: The People Who Kept Diplomacy Working is a documentary short that tells the stories of these civil servants. It focuses on the July 2025 cuts, one of the most visible and consequential workforce actions in the modern history of American foreign affairs. Sitting down with seven public servants, the film explores their experiences and reckons with what was lost. Ultimately, it is a call to action - spearheaded by fired federal workers and financially supported by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).

Safe Sets: Dying to Work in the Film Industry (1 hr 25m)

Directed by: Paul Heinzelmann

Documentary Feature (2024)

Program 2

A doctor investigates hazardous working conditions in Hollywood, and discovers untold stories of enormous personal sacrifice and life-threatening risks for those working in an industry that brings us the movies and TV shows we cherish. Activists, union leaders, policy makers and studio executives create possibilities for reform. Featuring Jon Hamm, John Malkovich, and Alec Baldwin.

Sea Currents (Correnteza) (24m)

Directed by: Tati Yamahata and Gabriel F. Coelho

Narrative Short (2025) Brazil

Program 16

Igor moves to a new city to follow in the footsteps of his cousin Matheus, an offshore worker. As he faces loneliness and the demands of the local industry, his long-distance relationship falls apart and his future becomes uncertain. The film explores the invisible force that shapes not only the landscape, but also the rhythm of daily life in an oil town. It is a work of fiction that seeks to portray the reality of the "bargain" made with the industry: financial stability that demands isolation, and material comfort accompanied by emotional exhaustion.

Street By Street (11m)

Directed by: Sandeep Sreelekha

Documentary Short (2025) India

Program 15

In the bustling streets of Delhi, Manoj Kumar Rai has spent over two decades as a street vendor. From selling paan to becoming a leader, he now fights for the rights of unorganized workers throughout the city, connecting other street vendors who face daily harassment, police evictions, and policy neglect.

The Auntie Sewing Squad Resistance Playbook (1 hr 12m)

Directed by: Valerie Soe

Documentary Feature (2026)

Program 11

The Auntie Sewing Squad is a collective of mostly BIPOC women sewists who saved the world at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning from a Facebook group, this national network of hundreds of Aunties, Uncles, and non-binary volunteers turned their living rooms into "sweatshops," where they sewed and donated cloth facemasks to counter the U.S. government's failure to provide protective gear for its healthcare workers.

For the Aunties, sewing and donating masks was not just about meeting a public health need. It was a way to address systemic inequities from their sewing machines, by openly discussing feminism, anti-racism, allyship, and destroying white supremacy.

The Butterfly of Brighton Beach (12m)

Directed by: Taissia Lomako

Documentary Short (2026)

Program 10

A Russian-Ukrainian American filmmaker uncovers memory, migration, and a neighborhood icon who dedicated her life to Brighton Beach.

The Conscript (1 hr 6m)

Directed by: Arda Sarıgün

Documentary Feature (2026) Turkey

Program 19

The Conscript traces the remnants of a 176 year history of mining in Zonguldak, Turkey’s first coal basin. Amid compulsory labour laws, abandoned workers’ towns and rusting industrial structures, the film examines how coal has shaped a city’s geography, memory and people.

The Hour After Midnight (1 hr 36m)

Directed by: Patricia van Heerden and Ed Wes

Documentary Feature (2025) South Africa

Program 7

The Hour After Midnight investigates the contested death of trade unionist Dr. Neil Aggett under apartheid detention in 1982, uncovering state surveillance, torture, and decades-long struggles for truth, justice, and accountability in South Africa.

The Machine Shop (10m)

Directed by: Jon Flahr

Narrative Short (2026) Canada

Program 1 and 6

A worn down machinist takes up a hobby that reignites his joy for life.

The Milk of Life (14m)

Directed by: Joseph So

Narrative Short (2026)

Program 17

A hand-drawn animation based on the true story of the 19th-century New York swill milk scandal, in which thousands of infants from poor and working-class families died after consuming adulterated milk while powerful political and industrial interests profited. The film unfolds as a visual poem on nourishment, power, greed, and the quiet violence embedded within industrial progress.

The New Frontier (19m)

Directed by: Carl Alan Kriss

Documentary Short (2026)

Online Only - Eventive 10/30-11/5

The New Frontier follows a new generation of American innovators racing to rebuild the nation's manufacturing industry from the heartland to Hollister CA, while the future of America's technological power hangs in the balance.

The Office Farewell (18m)

Directed by: Mehdi Pierret

Narrative Short (2024) Belgium

Program 6 and 20

To free themselves from the pressure and humiliation they endure at work every day, three colleagues plan to blow up their office. That night, with the building packed with dynamite and their plan ready to be carried out, something unexpected happens and throws their entire scheme into disarray.

The Picket Line (3m)

Directed by: Don Santina

Music Video (2024)

Program 17

The Picket Line celebrates the pulse of people working in solidarity for justice. Recorded by Don Santina (AFM Local 6) and his band Red Dust.

The Settlement (1 hr 33m)

Directed by: Mohamed Rashad

Narrative Feature (2025) Egypt

Program 12

Inspired by real events, The Settlement follows two brothers, 23-year-old troublemaker Hossam and his 12-year-old brother Maro, living in a marginalized community in Alexandria who are offered jobs by the local factory after their father’s untimely death in a workplace accident as compensation for their loss in lieu of pursuing legal action. As they navigate their new roles, they begin to question whether their father’s death was truly accidental.

Undeliverable (1 hr 39m)

Directed by: Frank Licari

Documentary Feature (2026)

Program 1

Undeliverable investigates the hidden system behind America's doorstep delivery economy, and the workers and independent delivery contractors carrying the cost of our demand for speed and convenience.

Amazon packages arrive on millions of doorsteps every day. But many of the drivers behind the wheel aren't actually Amazon employees. Undeliverable goes inside the Delivery Service Partner system to examine the businesses and people responsible for getting those packages through the final mile - and asks who ultimately bears the financial and human cost of the convenience consumers have come to expect. Through firsthand accounts, interviews and investigation, the film explores a system largely invisible to the customers who depend upon it.

United Workers (5m)

Directed by: Susanne Rogenhofer

Documentary Short (2026) Austria

Program 9

Unlike media for capitalist advertising purposes, here workers are put in the spotlight and made visible and their work audible. Images and sounds of work and workers become part of an audiovisual concert that offers insights into different worlds of work and production.

What We Dreamed Of Then (1 hr 44m)

Directed by: Taylor Olson

Narrative Feature (2025) Canada

Program 21

Then, Gideon was a vibrant young father and husband. Now, he is invisibly houseless, trying to hold onto his relationship with his estranged daughter. Told through a non-linear narrative, What We Dreamed of Then weaves between past and present, revealing the fragility of hope and the resilience needed to survive isolation.

Who Moves America (1 hr 27m)

Directed by: Yael Bridge

Documentary Feature (2026)

Program 8

In an era of deepening inequality, UPS Teamsters stand on the brink of a historic strike. As the deadline looms, Who Moves America shadows UPS workers across the country as they navigate the challenges of building solidarity with their 350,000 co-workers.

As the world's largest package delivery company, UPS moves millions of packages across more than 200 countries and territories each day - and its workforce holds the power to bring that machine to a halt. Who Moves America follows a UPS driver in California casting his first strike vote, a Teamster in New York who walked the picket line during the historic 1997 strike, and a warehouse worker in Kentucky balancing night shifts with community college, weighing whether she can afford to say no, as well as access to the General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Sean O'Brien.

As they and their co-workers organize, argue, and campaign across the country, the film builds toward a single, high-stakes vote: accept the deal, or risk everything for a strike that could reshape the American economy. Through intimate access and on-the-ground storytelling, Who Moves America reveals the human stories behind the single largest collective bargaining agreement in North America and explores the power and complexity of collective action in modern America.

Screenplays 2026

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