Scenes From the Workplace

Keep Up the Good Work

2013

It is a fetish, a mantra, a secret religion to modern man: work. In times of the financial crisis and massive job reductions, this documentary movie questions work as our 'hallow' sense in life in a way that both humors and pains us.

A Tale of Two Kitchens

2019

Two countries, two restaurants, one vision. At Gabriela Cámara's acclaimed Contramar in Mexico City, the welcoming, uniformed waiters are as beloved by diners as the menu featuring fresh, local seafood caught within 24 hours. The entire staff sees themselves as part of an extended family. Meanwhile at Cala in San Francisco, Cámara hires staff from different backgrounds and cultures, including ex-felons and ex-addicts, who view the work as an important opportunity to grow as individuals. A Tale of Two Kitchens explores the ways in which a restaurant can serve as a place of both dignity and community.

Women at Work

1958

An introduction to the employment picture in Canada in the late 1950s, designed to inform potential immigrants of job opportunities existing for women. The film reviews many fields of work in which women are engaged, ranging from the highly specialized to the unskilled, and shows much of it being performed by women who have come to Canada from many different lands. Placement services and information services established to help newly arrived immigrants are shown in operation. Viewed from a modern perspective, the greater part of the film accepts as normal the waste of women's talents in repetitive or service jobs while elevating this work to the status of a career. Currently distributed only in 13-minute abridged form.

She's a Railroader

1978

Karen Zaitchik jumps on and off moving boxcars, throws switches, pulls brakes and uncouples freights with ease and confidence. She's a railroader for CN and that's what this 21-year-old highly individualistic woman wants out of life for the moment. This colourful short film shows how Karen manages in the traditionally male world of the railroad.

Working Women

1978

Stylized with dramatic interiors and a distorted frame rate, this early documentary miniature from Szulkin depicts six sequences of solitary, repetitious labor.

Setara

2021

A documentary with an aim to raise awareness for workplace discrimination and see the world from the perspective of the deaf community.

Safety Awareness for Forklift Equipment

1990

An overview on safety precautions that protect forklift operators on the job.

L'empreinte

2008

A bakery in Herat in Afghanistan. Twelve hours a day, seven days a week, a dozen employees and apprentices repeat the same gestures, while the camera raises questions about the outside world, about images.

Miliardy kolem nás

1948

The Trouble with Women

1959

This short film illustrates some of the perceived problems a supervisor might face working with women, but ultimately demonstrates where the real problem lies.

Money for Bread

1994

Women from Turkey and Mecklenburg are working together side-by-side at a fish-processing factory in Lübeck. As they work, they share stories about their lives, including their sorrows, griefs, hopes, and dreams, while expressing their longing for home and feelings of being lost in a foreign place.

The Last Blockbuster

2020

A documentary on the last remaining Blockbuster Video in Bend, Oregon.