June 11, 2002

Enjoyed an HBO documentary called American Standoff last night. It's by a filmmaker named Kristi Jacobson, but was also produced by Barbara Kopple, who did the downright stunning American Dream. They're both strike movies -- American Standoff is about the Teamsters' striking Overnite Transportation, and American Dream is about the Hormel strike in Austin, Minnesota. Austin still has the scars from the P-9 strike -- see the movie, really, because it's wonderful. Standoff is very good as well, but Dream is an absolute classic. No heroes, no villains. Just a lot of people hurting.

Posted by Alison-Jane at June 11, 2002 08:44 PM
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It was very good, indeed. I didn't get to see the ending, but after a web search I was appalled to read that the strike is still going on. I don't know why I was so shocked; the American labor movement is in more trouble now than it has been in for decades.

My dad was a staunch union man; I was an active participant in my own right. It never fails to annoy me that the vast number of working Americans don't understand the debt that they owe the unions.

Anyway, I'd like to recommend two other documentaries along the same line: Harlan County, USA and Seeing Red. Harlan County is also by Barbara Kopple and concerns the big miners' strike in KY. Seeing Red (my personal favorite) is a 1984 film that uses interviews and newsreel footage to chronicle the early years of the Communist Party in America. I'll just say the women and men in this film are some of my heroes. Bright, witty, plain-spoken, courageous - they fought for justice, equality, worker's rights.

Oops. My soapbox is showing. Ahem. I do love documentaries.

Posted by: Lee Ann Kalwat on June 12, 2002 03:54 PM

Barbara Kopple is the best documentary maker of our time. "Harlan County, USA" is the best piece of film-work ever made. If you are intrigued by her, check out anything she has done. Even the recent "Hampton's" is a gem. She also features Hazel Dickens, the best appalachian singer/songwriter of our time in "Harlan"

Posted by: Jen Stewart on November 9, 2003 04:24 PM
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