Artists' Television Access

BROKEN WINDOWS, OPEN DOORS & b media collective

Thursday, January 27, 2011, 8:00 pm, $6

BROKEN WINDOWS: In early December 2008, after Republic Windows and Doors abruptly told its workers that it was shutting down the operations, 240 members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) occupied the plant. The executives of the company claimed that the Bank of America had canceled Republic’s line of credit, making it impossible to stay in business—or even pay employees the severance and vacation pay they had earned.

Day after day the spontaneous but well-planned action received support of people from all over the country, intervention of local politicians and national media attention. After six days of occupation, the bank agreed to provide $1.35 million for Republic’s layoff package. The workers hey got what they demanded—sixty days of severance pay, earned vacation pay, and two months of health insurance coverage. The Republic workers’ protest in Chicago was reminiscent of similar sit-ins by workers during the Great Depression and civil rights activists in the 1960s.

The film documents factory occupation day after day, shows the growing support of the worker struggle and successful resolution. In  English and Spanish with subtitles. Directed by Anna Karewicz (in person)


Anna Karewicz is a Photographer, documentary filmmaker  from Poland who had lived in Chicago for the last 10 years.  She was a part of Video
Chamba, a grasroots media group that engages working communities in creating socially involved independent radio and video broadcasts.

“Broken Windows, Open Doors” is a result of a group collaboration of Video Chamba members and supporters during the times of the factory
occupation.


::b media collective:: is a Portland based video art collective that stands in solidarity with local and global people’s movements through the socialization, documentation, creation, and exchange of media between communities in the global north and south.

The screening will include:
B MEDIA SHORTS 2010
Ranging in length from 2-10 minutes, these shorts feature street footage, interviews, mashup and experimental techniques, reconfiguring journalistic stories from critical news stories from 2010.

The ART AND RESISTANCE Film Series is a collection of short documentaries focused on different artists and collectives around the Americas using culture as a tool for radical social transformation. From street musicians and hip-hop artists in Venezuela, to graffiti artists in Mexico, the documentaries focus on how people are actively using their creativity to challenge the status quo and empower their communities.

Tiuna el Fuerte: Revolutionizing the Revolution
TIUNA EL FUERTE: REVOLUCIONANDO LA REVOLUCIÓN
Venezuela, 25 mins
Tiuna el Fuerte is a “nucleous of endogenous cultural development” that uses music and culture to empower youth in the barrio of El Valle in Caracas, Venezuela. Situated on an old cement parking lot transformed into a community constructed cultural center, Tiuna el Fuerte now hosts a hip-hop school, youth orchestra, media lab, mobile community radio, and serves as an example for reclaimed space for the community. The project exemplifies the concept of local development of the people, for the people, by the people that finds its roots in modern day Venezuela.