LaborFest DC to Celebrate Workers' Culture
Friday, February 28, 2014
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)The 14th annual
DC Labor FilmFest will anchor a month-long labor cultural, film and arts
festival in May, FilmFest Director Chris Garlock reported at Monday’s Metro
Washington Council meeting. Scheduled thus far are an art exhibition on painter Ralph Fassanella (left) at the
Smithsonian’s
American Art Museum, a screening of the 1936
Mexican film masterpiece Redes, accompanied by
a live performance of the film’s score by the PostClassical Ensemble (members
of AFM 161-710), a labor poetry event at Busboys and Poets, and labor history
tours, in addition to more than a dozen Labor FilmFest screenings. DC LaborFest
organizers welcome the participation of other labor-themed cultural
activities; email streetheat@dclaborarchives.org with
details. The DC festival of labor culture joins LaborFests around the world,
including in San Francisco, Tokyo, Osaka, Buenos Aires, Argentina, El Alto,
Bolivia, Capetown, South Africa, Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey. “The need to
build local, national and international solidarity is critical for labor to
face the challenges it faces on all fronts,” says DC Labor FilmFest Co-Chair
Jos Williams. “LaborFests help bring our struggles together in art, film,
music
and poetry.”