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Union film image; group of people protesting

On April 1, 2022 a group of ordinary workers made history when they did what everyone thought was impossible: they successfully won their election to become the very first unionized Amazon workplace in America. This feat would be extraordinary for any union, let alone the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), who did it with no prior organizing experience, no institutional backing, and a total budget of $120,000 raised on GoFundMe. Heralded as the most important win for labor since the 1930s, this highly cinematic documentary captures the ALU’s historic grassroots campaign to unionize thousands of their co-workers from day one of organizing.

Described by ALU President Christian Smalls as the “N.W.A. of the organizing world,” the group’s persona and strategies are highly unconventional: from wearing Money Heist costumes at press conferences to distributing free marijuana to workers. A core emotional arc arises out of the journey of these worker-turned organizers through a series of political battles, pivotal strategic events, and interpersonal tensions that test their commitments and their solidarity. Up against a corporate superpower and with legal protections at a drastic low for workers, all odds are against the ALU. Yet this rag-tag ensemble remains unswayed in their beliefs in collective action and the dignity and power of the working-class.

A vital and urgent portrait of labor organizing and its enduring possibility at a time when the fight for workers’ rights has never seemed more one-sided.

David Ehrlich, Indiewire

A nuanced portrait of the challenges of leadership and a revealing celebration of the values of persistence, solidarity and free weed.

Daniel Fienberg, Hollywood Reporter

Directors

Brett Story & Stephen Maing

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2024

Language

English

Awards

US Documentary Special Jury Award for the Art of Change (Sundance)

19+
104 min

Book Tickets

Monday November 11

5:30 pm
Hearing Assistance
VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Book Now

Wednesday November 13

8:30 pm
Hearing Assistance
VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Book Now

Credits

Executive Producer

Jenny Raskin, Lauren Haber, Geralyn White Dreyfous, The Villa Family

Producer

Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone, Martin Diciccio

Cinematography

Martin Dicicco, Stephen Maing

Editor

Blair McClendon, Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Stephen Maing

Original Music

Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe

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