The Deregistration of the Builders Labourers Federation

Monument to the Dream

June 1967 •English

Documents the evolution of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Arch from concept drawings, to fabrication of its stainless steel sections, to assembly and completion. Innovative structural techniques and brilliant design show why this avant-garde monument is among the greatest civil engineering achievements of the twentieth century. Oscar Nominee: Best Documentary Short

Skyscraper

November 1959 •English

Nominated for an Academy Award, this live-action short film playfully chronicles the construction of the Tishman Building at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City.

The Red Elvis

February 2007 •German

A documentary on the late American entertainer Dean Reed, who became a huge star in East Germany after settling there in 1973.

Look at Life: Top People

January 1960 •English

An overview of high-rise construction activity in London. From the crane operators who build the new sky-scrapers to the tenants who live in the penthouses, this newsreel provides a colorful birds-eye view of London Town.

Main basse sur l'énergie

October 2018 •French

À ciel ouvert

January 2022 •German

Behind the scenes of a large construction site in western Switzerland, we dive into the world of construction where most of the workers are foreigners.

Island Shunters

January 1977 •English

Short documentary on the shunters in the Darling Island, Sydney, Australia railyard. Filmed in 1977.

Skydancer

November 2011 •English

For more than 120 years, Mohawk ironworkers have raised America’s modern cityscapes. They are called 'sky walkers' because they walk fearlessly atop steel beams just a foot wide, high above the city. In this nuanced portrait of modern Native Americans' double lives, Jerry McDonald Thundercloud and his colleague Sky shuttle between the hard-drinking Brooklyn lodging houses they call home during the week and their rural reservation, a grueling drive six hours north, where a family weekend awaits. While the men are away working, their wives often struggle to keep their children away from the illegal temptations of an economically deprived area.

Modern Marvels: American Steel: Built to Last

Invalid date •English

An exploration of the past and future of the steel industry in America.

Dream Factory

September 2011 •Korean

It's been more than 1,000 days since the workers of Cort/Cortek Guitar begun a struggle after the company abruptly closed down. Meanwhile, musicians performed for the workers so many people are aware of the company's injustice, but the company has yet to respond. The workers visit international instrument expositions all around the world, meet other guitar companies such as Fender and Ibanez who subcontract with Cort, and share the struggle with them. The workers also align with musicians in Japan and the USA. They achieve international solidarity through music.

Eat Bitter

March 2023 •Sango

A local construction worker and a Chinese engineer are assigned to build a bank in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, one of the poorest countries in the world. But time is short and resources are scarce, and there are rumours in the countryside that a new civil war is brewing. And as if all this wasn’t bad enough, their relationships to their wives are falling apart. ‘Eat Bitter’ mirrors the existential and mundane problems of the two men, while an unlikely friendship and mutual trust blossoms between them. However, the chaotic microcosm of the construction site also mirrors China’s contradictory role in 21st century Africa, with the bank itself as the ultimate symbol of money, power and illusion. Director duo Pascale Appora-Gnekindy and Ningyi Sun themselves represent each of the two cultures, and their film has a unique eye for the human fallibility and irony of it all, but also for how we can reach each other despite all our many differences.

The Making of Jurassic World VelociCoaster

December 2021 •English

An inside look at the creation of Universal Orlando Resort's new Jurassic World VelociCoaster.

If You Build It

April 2013 •English

A year in the life of one of America's most innovative classrooms where students design & build to transform their hometown community. The film follows Emily Pilloton and Matt Miller as they teach the fundamentals of design, architecture and construction to a class of high school juniors in rural North Carolina.

Restoring a Masterpiece: The Renovation of Eastman Theatre

April 2010 •English

Take a look behind the curtain to see the vast history and recent renovation of one of Rochester, New York's most famous landmarks. Architects, theater personnel, historians, community leaders, and citizens provide in depth insight from start to finish in one of the most extensive renovations the city has ever seen.

Triangle: Remembering the Fire

March 2011 •English

On March 25, 1911, a catastrophic fire broke out at the Triangle Waist Company in New York City. Trapped inside the upper floors of a ten-story building, 146 workers - mostly young immigrant women and teenage girls - were burned alive or forced to jump to their deaths to escape an inferno that consumed the factory in just 18 minutes. It was the worst disaster at a workplace in New York State until 9/11. The tragedy changed the course of history, paving the way for government to represent working people, not just business, for the first time, and helped an emerging American middle class to live the American Dream.

The Flickering Flame

December 1996 •English

Documentary following dockers of Liverpool sacked in a labour dispute and their supporters’ group, Women of the Waterfront, as they receive support from around the world and seek solidarity at the TUC conference.

High Steel

January 1965 •English

A dizzying view of Manhattan in the 1960s, the tallest town in the world, and the men who work cloud-high to keep it growing. They are the Mohawk Indians from Kahnawake, near Montréal, famed for their skill in erecting the steel frames of skyscrapers. The film shows their nimble work, high above the pavement, but there are also glimpses of the quieter community life of the old Kahnawake Reserve.

American Dream

October 1990 •English

When workers at the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota are asked to take a substantial pay cut in a highly profitable year, the local labor union decides to go on strike and fight for a wage they believe is fair. But as the work stoppage drags on and the strikers face losing everything, friends become enemies, families are divided and the very future of this typical mid American town is threatened.

Cocalero

January 2007 •Spanish

A documentary centered on the union formed by Bolivian farmers in response to their government's (which was urged by the U.S.) effort eradicate coca crops, and the man who would come to represent them, Evo Morales.

Look Back at Grunwick

January 1980 •English

A RECORD OF THE STRIKE AT GRUNWICK IN 1977. The story of the continuing struggle at Grunwick’s by mainly Indian workers, from July 11th, 1977 until the struggle was lost. It shows the Special Patrol Group attack on the November 7th day of action, how the leadership of the struggle was taken out of the hands of the strike committee, how some of the strike leaders were disciplined by their own union for going on hunger strike outside the TUC in protest at the TUC’s inactivity, and how the post office workers were forced by their union to end their blacking of Grunwick mail. It also shows the beginnings of the similar struggle by immigrant workers at Garner’s Steak Houses in London.