film
Abra (2018) By Hiba Ali
Runtime: 5 minutes
Saturday, May 1 – Monday, May 31
Ali, in their video, Abra (2018), is in conversation with Amazon’s customer-obsessed mascot, Peccy. Their discussion about working-class labor, surveillance, and bubbles (economic, social and soap filled), literally paints the video orange. They contend that orange is the contemporary color of labour and surveillance, it is racialized and classed.
Hiba Ali is a panelist at the Organize Amazon! dialogue happening on Saturday, May 15 from 1:00-2:30PM
Money Moves 超时工作 (2019)
A Mayworks Premiere
Runtime: 6.22 minutes
Saturday, May 1 – Monday, May 31
A roving performance that considers the toll of wage theft on the body. Created by artist En Lai Mah, MoneyMoves: 超时工作 makes visible what is too often unnoticed: the labour of immigrant workers who put food on our tables. Mah collaborated with elderly grocery store workers to create a performance that is inspired by their work. The resulting performance tells the story of one worker in particular, 56-year old Mr. Bao, who is fighting for compensation after being injured on the job. Subverting the repetitive routines of gruelling work, the performance draws on movement and martial arts to resist feelings of immobility in the body. Filmed in grocery stores across the city, the performance calls grocery workers to find the physical and emotional strength required to stand up to their bosses.
MoneyMoves: 超时工作, A conversation
Thursday, May 13, 7:30-9:00PM
9to5: The Story of a Movement (2019)
Runtime: 119 minutes
Presented with AMAPCEO
Sunday, May 2, Tuesday, May 4 and Saturday, May 29
The 1970s saw an explosion of women’s participation in the workforce. Many were low paid clerical workers who were typically considered the “office wives” of their male supervisors. A group of secretaries in Boston began organizing for better pay, more advancement opportunities and an end to sexual harassment. With their unconventional approach, a movement was started and 9to5 evolved into the largest membership organization of working women in the United States.
Join an intimate Moderated Q&A with 9to5 organizers on Tuesday May 4th, 7:00-8:00PM.
Sorry We Missed You (2019) by Ken Loach
Runtime: 100 minutes
Sunday, May 9 – Sunday, May 16
Ricky and his family have been fighting an uphill struggle against debt since the 2008 financial crash. An opportunity to wrestle back some independence appears with a shiny new van and the chance to run a franchise as a self employed delivery driver. It’s hard work, and his wife’s job as a carer is no easier. The family unit is strong but when both are pulled in different directions everything comes to breaking point.
SICKENING (2020)
by Roya DelSol
Runtime: 2.22 minutes
Monday, May 17 – Monday, May 31
Sickening is an experimental performance piece following ballroom performer & designer Ebony Knowles as she uses raw material and sheer determination to metamorphose from her natural state to otherworldly up-and-coming ballroom runway legend.
THE FUTURES OF SPACES (2021) BY HANNIA CHENG
A Mayworks Premiere
Monday, May 31
A short film documenting the love and care that goes into the Chinatown Anti Displacement Garden happenings this year. Take a peek into Tea Base and Friends of Chinatown Toronto’s (FOCT) third year of placemaking in Chinatown Centre’s courtyard, how we organize, what vegetables we decide to grow, and all the unexpected stories that unfold along the way.
The Words We Can’t Speak By Lindsay McIntyre
Wednesday, May 26
The screenplay, based on the true story of the writer’s grandmother, is set in 1936 Nunavut, within the labour dynamics of the Hudson Bay Company, members of an Inuit community, and the RCMP. When a seasoned Inuk translator bravely amputates a Qallunaat (white) woman’s injured leg but fails to prevent her death, she becomes unwelcome in her community. In search of acceptance and a better life, she leaves the Arctic for the white man’s world on a dangerous 1800-mile journey by dog sled with her young daughter and an over-confident RCMP Constable, who fancies her for his wife. Unprepared for their journey together or their arrival, they encounter life-threatening difficulties and a serious clash of cultures. Festival audiences are invited to join for the last two hours of the workshop to listen to a final read through, followed by a Q&A with the writer.