articles tagged "film"
Harvest of Loneliness: The Bracero Program with Armando Ibarra
Thursday, 1 November 2012 | buzz
On Thursday November 1, our host Tony Castaneda spoke with Assistant Professor at the School for Workers at UW-Madison, Armando Ibarra. Armando speaks about Harvest of Loneliness: The Bracero Program, a documentary film that will be screened at the Labor Temple on Saturday, November 3 at 6:30. Armando will hold a discussion that will take place after the screening of the film, focusing on working conditions and immigration issues that are present in our society today. He assisted with the making of the film as a graduate student with film makers Gilbert Gonzalez and Vivian Price. Armando explains the Bracero Program, “This was a state managed labor importation program that took place between the US and Mexico from 1942 – 1964. The program has had massive impacts on Latino communities that most of us don’t understand, including those that study these communities. Many people’s grandparents and parents today were braceros.” He explains that the program was a system of labor recruitment, put into place by control of the growers. People from all regions of Mexico applied for permits, after which, if they were selected, would be placed through a processing station in the US, where they would be hand picked to be sent to farms across the US. By the end of the process, they were screened by both the Mexican and American governments, as well as the corporate growers. “There was absolutely no agency on the part of the workers in this whole process,” Armando says. The migrant workers were predominantly from rural lands who considered this offer as a good opportunity for themselves and their families. However, they soon began to see the harsh reality of the situation, “this was an abundant source of cheap, exploitable, replaceable, and deportable labor. That was the beauty of this program for corporate growers.” Armando reports that the plight of migrant workers has, for the most part, remained unchanged. He estimates that 25% of all the food consumed in the United States is grown in the central valley of California; And, on a yearly basis, 1.2 million farm workers, mainly Mexicans, apply their efforts towards producing that food, “The food you consume is being produced by Mexican hands, and…primarily ‘unauthorized people’, as we label here.” He speaks about the connection between food production and the current immigration laws and issues that are present in the United States today. Visit the website for the film here. Visit the UW …. more »
Driftless Film Festival
Friday, 26 October 2012 | buzz
On Friday October 26, our host Jonathan Zarov speaks about the upcoming Driftless Film Festival with Nicholas Langholff and Darren Burrows, co-founders of the film festival, and actor Mark Metcalf. The Driftless Film Festival takes place in the “driftless area,” of Mineral Point, referring to the south west part of Wisconsin, emphasizes the regional nature of the film festival. Apart from Mineral Point, in which a large focus of the festival will be situated in, other towns that are included in the festival include Richland Center, Spring Green, and Platteville. Nicholas speaks particularly about the experience of film watching, in which the theater itself plays an important role, “there’s a special charm to the area, and that’s why I think for people to come out and see a movie at the Mineral Point Opera house, or at the Guard Theater in Spring green, and to visit the restaurants, the brewery…you have these things that are beyond the film festival, and that’s the charm of the community. That’s what drives us, and we like being part of it.” Says Darren, “a lot of the films we do are… lower-budget films, films that are done for the love rather than paying the rent… Its more about providing the opportunity for artists to show their films the way they were meant to be seen.” Among the movies that will be played at the festival include Beasts of the Southern Wild (the opening film for the festival), environmental films such as Chasing Ice and Bidder 70, political films such as Janeane from Des Moines and As Goes Janesville, and several local Wisconsin films. Click here for a full list of the films. Actor Mark Metcalf, who has acted in films and shows such as Seinfeld and Animal House, will be at the festival and will be doing Q and A sessions after the showing of the two films he acted in, The Wheel as well as Little Red, in which he plays the Big Bad Wolf. He speaks of the festival, “I think small festivals like Driftwood are really great. It gives people a chance to see films that they wouldn’t ordinarily get the chance to see, so that they know there’s more to filmmaking than [mainstream Hollywood films]… they’re only one part of what cinema can do. You get to see how flexible, powerful, and interesting an art form cinema can be. Besides, it’s a beautiful part of the …. more »