A partnership between the Dryden Theatre and the Rochester Labor Council since 1989, the Labor Film Series, the oldest in the United States, brings together classic films and new releases in an exploration of work, workers, and labor issues from across the world. This year’s selections bring light to solidarity, real-world stories of unionization, labor history, the challenges facing farm workers and health professionals alike, and resistance movements to the globalization of labor and commerce. From Bulgarian factories to the streets of Seattle to right here in Western New York, labor continues its struggles with management for all to see. Generously supported by the Ronald G. Pettengill Labor Education Fund.
Dates and Titles:
September 11: Everybody to Kenmure Street (Felipe Bustos Sierra, UK 2026, 95 min., DCP)
September 18: Baristas vs. Billionaires (Mark Mori, US 2025, 79 min., DCP)
September 25: Newsies (Kenny Ortega, US 1992, 121 min., DCP)
October 9: Made in EU (Stephan Kamandarev, Germany/Bulgaria/Czech Republic 2025, 102 min., DCP)
October 2: The Great Postal Heist (Jay Galione, US 2022, 96 min., DCP)
October 16: Full Time (À plein temps, Eric Gravel, France 2021, 88 min., DCP, French with English subtitles)
October 23: Seeds (Brittany Shyne, Danielle Varga, US 2025, 123 min., DCP)
October 30: Late Shift (Heldin, Petra Biondina Volpe, Switzerland/Germany 2025, 92 min., German, Turkish, French, and Albanian with English subtitles)
November 6: WTO/99 (Ian Bell, US 2025, 102 min., DCP)
Events in this Series
The Great Postal Heist (DCP)
Labor Film Series Filmmaker Jay Galione’s first directorial work is this documentary about the current state of the U.S. Postal Service, inspired by his father, who was a postal clerk for thirty years before being falsely accused of padding reimbursements.
Made in EU (DCP)
Labor Film Series Iva works in a clothing factory in rural Bulgaria battling a persistent, yet mysterious illness.
Full Time (DCP)
Labor Film Series Julie (Laure Calamy) can’t catch a break. For a single mother raising two children in the suburbs of Paris but working in the city, the commuter train is a lifeline — and it’s suddenly been severed during the latest transit strike.
Seeds (DCP)
Labor Film Series From Brittany Shyne, a camera operator on Barbara Kopple’s American Factory, comes this examination of a group of people being continually pushed aside: Black farmers.
Late Shift (DCP)
Labor Film Series With a warm smile and positive attitude, Floria (Leonie Beneach) arrives at the surgical ward of the Swiss hospital where she works as a nurse on the overnight shift. With one colleague out sick and no replacement on deck, just two nurses and a nervous trainee will have to cover more than two dozen patients.
Newsies (35mm)
Labor Film Series On the fifteenth anniversary of the premiere of the Newsies stage show, this is the film musical that started it all. Detailing the historic newsboys’ strike of 1899, newsies are required to buy the papers from the publisher before flooding the streets to sell them to the public.
Baristas vs. Billionaires (DCP)
Labor Film Series Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Mark Mori (for his 1989 documentary Building Bombs), turns his lens to the challenges facing labor organizers in an increasingly corporatized world.
Everybody to Kenmure Street (DCP)
Labor Film Series On the streets of Glasgow one early May morning in 2021, a Home Office van quietly pulls up to a residential building, with officials sent to arrest two individuals for alleged immigration violations. Word of the raid goes out almost immediately, and students, neighbors, members of the local mosque and others rush to the area in response.