The Working Class Goes to Heaven

Kuhle Wampe or Who Owns the World?(de)

Kuhle Wampe takes place in early-1930s Berlin. The film begins with a montage of newspaper headlines describing steadily-rising unemployment figures. This is followed by scenes of a young man looking for work in the city and the family discussing the unpaid back rent. The young man, brother of the protagonist Anni, removes his wristwatch and throws himself from a window out of despair. Shortly thereafter his family is evicted from their apartment. Now homeless, the family moves into a garden colony of sorts with the name “Kuhle Wampe.”

A Matter of Sex(en)

Dramatization of the true story of the so-called Willmar Eight, a group of Minnesota bank workers who braved freezing conditions whilst picketing their branch in a struggle for union rights.

Support the Girls(en)

Lisa Conroy is general manager at a highway-side 'sports bar with curves', Double Whammies. She nurtures and protects her employees fiercely - but over the course of one trying day, her optimism is battered from every direction. Double Whammies sells a big, weird American fantasy, but what happens when reality pokes a bunch of holes in it?

I Stand Alone(fr)

After completing jail time for beating up a man who tried to seduce his mentally-handicapped teenage daughter, The Butcher wants to start life anew. He institutionalizes his daughter and moves to the Lille suburbs with his mistress, who promises him a new butcher shop. Learning that she lied, The Butcher returns to Paris to find his daughter.

Dias de Greve(pt)

The struggle of a small group of blacksmiths trapped between keeping a long going strike with claims for better fees and the necessity of getting back to work when there's no money left for basic necessities.

Seance on a Wet Afternoon(en)

Working-class British housewife Myra Savage reinvents herself as a medium, holding seances in the sitting room of her home with the hidden assistance of her under-employed, asthmatic husband, Billy. In an attempt to enhance her credibility as a psychic, Myra hatches an elaborate, ill-conceived plot to kidnap a wealthy couple's young daughter so that she can then help the police "find" the missing girl.

Rocco and His Brothers(it)

When a impoverished widow’s family moves to the big city, two of her five sons become romantic rivals with deadly results.

Green Days(ko)

Sulan, who works in a factory in the summer of 1978, begins learning photos with other female workers from Seok-yoon, the owner of the photo studio across from the factory. Seok-yoon, who had been closed, began to open his heart to female workers, but began to feel uneasy about the female workers' labor movement.

On This Earth(ja)

Ichiro’s family used to be a large landowner, but now he is living in poverty with his mother. His mother works hard to get her son through school. Under such circumstances, Ichiro meets Wakako, the daughter of a wealthy man, and they fall in love with each other, but they are opposed by those around them because of their different social status.

Wind Over the City(el)

In a small, poor town, a young worker falls in love with an actress from a traveling theater troupe and tries to keep her close, dreaming and working hard to rebuild a new town while the troupe increasingly faces decline and the end of its run.

Chance of a Lifetime(en)

The workers in a small plough factory take over the firm, but when a large order falls through, the old management come back to help out.

Jellyfish(en)

In Margate, England, life is not easy for teenager Sarah Taylor, between being bullied at school, being exploited by a dominant boss and having to take care of her depressive mother and her two siblings. But Sarah finds a way to channel her growing despair and fight adversity when her drama teacher gives her a new purpose.

Victory to the Mimers(en)

A satirical dramedy loosely inspired by the infamous UK Miners' strikes; however this time, the fight isn’t in the pits, but on the stage. With his beloved family trade targeted by a right-wing government with a long-standing hatred for the arts, a Mime performer desperately rallies the troops for a silent revolution, vowing to save the art form from facing the final curtain.

My Brother Is an Only Child(it)

Accio and Manrico are siblings from a working-class family in 1960s Italy: older Manrico is handsome, charismatic, and loved by all, while younger Accio is sulky, hot-headed, and treats life as a battleground — much to his parents' chagrin. After the former is drawn into left-wing politics, Accio joins the fascists out of spite, but his flimsy beliefs are put to test when he falls for Manrico's like-minded girlfriend.

A Light Through Coloured Glass(en)

Soon after his wife has left him, William finds his life turned further upside down upon meeting Tina, a younger woman with problems of her own.

Lady Caliph(it)

La Califfa's husband was killed during the strikes so she takes the side of the strikers. Her conflict with the plant owner Doverdo gradually turns into a love relationship.

Here on Earth(en)

Three lives of three young people intersect over the course of one summer. A rich student and a young working-class man accidentally destroy a diner when their impromptu road race takes a disastrous turn. Ordered by a judge to spend the summer repairing the building, they find themselves becoming rivals for the affections of the owner's daughter.

Kes(en)

Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence.

La voz de mi ciudad(es)

Big City(en)

Anna and Joe are newly married, playful and deeply in love. Joe is scraping by as cab driver in New York City during a period of corruption, mob control and violence between cab companies.

The Profession of Arms(it)

In autumn of 1526, the Emperor, Charles V, sends his German landsknechts led by Georg von Frundsberg to march towards Rome. The inferior papal armies, commanded by Giovanni de'Medici, try to chase them in the midst of a harsh winter. Nevertheless, the Imperial armies manage to cross the rivers along their march and get cannons thanks to the maneuvers of its Lords. In a skirmish, Giovanni de'Medici is wounded in the leg by a falconet shot. The attempts to cure him fail and he dies. The Imperial armies assault Rome. The film is beautifully but unassumingly set, and shows the hard conditions in which war is waged and its lack of glory. It ends straightforwardly with the declaration made after the death of Giovanni de'Medici by the commanders of the armies in Europe of not using again fire weapons because of their cruelty.

The Blizzard of AAHHH's(en)

Greg Stump's rockumentary-style ski film inspired a whole new generation of skiers when it was first released in 1988. Taking a look at the heroes of the ski world -- both known and unknown -- Blizzard of Ahhhs features some of the best ski action ever filmed.

The Third Shadow Warrior(ja)

In the mountain regions of Hida, the dreams of a peasant named Kyonosuke, who longed to be a samurai, come true when he becomes one of three doubles, of shadows, of Lord Yasutaka. After months of intense and cruel training, he faces his destiny when the Lord and the other two shadows are killed in battle and he must take on the role of Lord Yasutaka....

Four of the Apocalypse(it)

Four petty criminals, three men and a woman, wander through the trackless terrain of the Wild West Utah and are hounded by a sadistic bandit.

11 Minutes(pl)

The lives of urbanites intertwine in a world where anything can happen at any time.

Help Me, My Love(it)

Giovanni and Raffaella are happily married from ten years, but their relationship goes into crisis when Raffaella falls in love with Valerio Mantovani, a handsome forty-year-old man she knew during the concerts of chamber music she weekly attends with her mother.

The 10th Victim(it)

In the near future, big wars are avoided by giving individuals with violent tendencies a chance to kill in the Big Hunt. The Hunt is the most popular form of entertainment in the world and also attracts participants who are looking for fame and fortune. It includes ten rounds for each competitor, five as the hunter and five as the victim.

Il presidente del Borgorosso Football Club(it)

Benito Fornaciari, a pale, devoutly Catholic, Upper Middleclass Italian inherits a minor-league football club from a long-lost uncle. He decides to visit the club to sell it, but the local population has other ideas: through an almost-armed uprising they "force" him not to sell the club but lead it to other glories on the football field.

Grosso guaio all'Esquilino - La leggenda del Kung Fu(it)

Davide is a shy and nerdy 13-year-old teenager who lives in Rome, in the Esquilino district, with his mum Asia. He spends his days with his friend Yang, constantly trying to escape from the school bully, Nadir, and dreaming of winning Jasmine's heart. Passionate about movies on martial arts, Davide tries to regain self-confidence when he meets Martino, a broke b-movie actor, pretending to be a kung fu master to make his living.

Sacco & Vanzetti(it)

Boston, 1920. Italian immigrants Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are charged and unfairly tried for murder on the basis of their anarchist political beliefs.

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion(it)

Rome, Italy. After committing a heinous crime, a senior police officer exposes evidence incriminating him because his moral commitment prevents him from circumventing the law and the social order it protects.

Property Is No Longer a Theft(it)

A young bank teller, literally allergic to paper money, becomes the worst nightmare of his best customer, a wealthy butcher who manages his business unscrupulously.

Land Without Bread(es)

An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.

Blind Mountain(zh)

Young student Bai Xuemei is cheated and sold as a wife by human traffickers to a remote village. Raped and beaten, she leads the life of a sex slave and child-bearer with no hope of escape because of the villagers apathy and selfishness.

Crooklyn(en)

From Spike Lee comes this vibrant semi-autobiographical portrait of a school-teacher, her stubborn jazz-musician husband and their five kids living in '70s Brooklyn.

Swept Away(it)

A spoiled rich woman and a brutish Communist deckhand become stranded alone on a desert island after venturing away from their cruise.

We Still Kill the Old Way(it)

A leftist professor wants the truth about two men killed during a hunting party; but the mafia, the Church and corrupt politicians don't want him to learn it.

Many Wars Ago(it)

Time after time, soldiers of the Italian Army are forced to leave their mountain trenches in attempts to storm an enemy fortress, always with the same disastrous results. As casualties mount, indignation spreads among the rank and file. Disturbed by his superiors' decisions, Lieutenant Sassu is led to question the purpose of war and reconsider where his real duties lie.

The Mattei Affair(it)

Enrico Mattei helped change Italy’s future, first as freedom-fighter against the Nazis, then as an investor in methane gas through a public company, A.G.I.P., and ultimately as the head of ENI, a state body formed for the development of oil resources. On October 27, 1962, he died when his private airplane crashed during a flight to Milan. Officially, it is declared an accident, but many journalists explore other plausible reasons for Mattei's untimely death.

Gallo cedrone(it)

The life and times of Armando Feroci, a fortyish year old, who's been everything, a divorced husband, a careless father, an unreliable brother. The story is told in flashback by his friends while Armando has been mysteriously kidnapped in an Arab country by an integralist group and condemned to death.