HomeD.C. Labor FilmFest

2026 DC LABOR FILMFEST: May 1–31

AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD

Organized and presented by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the AFI Silver, this annual series features a wide-ranging selection of films about work, workers and the wider issues affecting workers' lives.

See Our 2026 Film Selections

Find Labor Films At Other Locations

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2026 DC LABOR FILMFEST AT A GLANCE

AMERICAN DREAM: Fri, May 1, 4:00; Thurs, May 7, 4:15

BARISTAS VS BILLIONAIRES: Sat, April 18, 9:00; Sun, April 19, 3:00
Before You Eat: Wed, May 13, 6:00

CASE 137: Sun, May 10, 1:15
Commemorating Strikes Event: Fri, May 8, 1:00 PM

EVERYBODY TO KENMURE STREET: Sun, May 24, 1:45

HARLAN COUNTY USA: Thurs, May 21, 7:00

IDIOCRACY: Sat, May 09, 9:00; Wed, May 13, 9:15

LATE SHIFT: Sun, May 17, 1:30

MADE IN EU: Sat, May 9, 1:30

MAN OF MARBLE: Sat, May 23, 11:15

MAN OF IRON: Sun, May 24, 1:15

MODERN TIMES: Thurs, May 28, 7:00 (DCLFF Closing Night)

NO OTHER CHOICE: Thurs, May 7, 6:30
Partners: Mon, May 18, 3:00

SELF DRIVER: Fri, May 15, 9:15

SORRY TO BOTHER YOU: Tue, May 26, 7:00

STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE!Fri, May 1, 6:45 (DCLFF Opening Night); Sat, May 2, 12:00; 3:00; Q&A with subject Amy Goodman and Academy Award®–nominated filmmaker Tia Lessin. Additional screenings (no Q&A) May 3–7
We Fought For What We Have: Wed, May 27, 6:00

WTO/99: Wed, May 13, 7:00

All screenings at AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center -- 8633 Colesville Road Silver Spring, MD 20910
except BARISTAS VS BILLIONAIRES (Regal Gallery Place, Washington DC International Film Festival,) Before You Eat (American University College of Law 4300 Nebraska Ave. NW Washington, DC 20016,) Commemorating Strikes (Hornbake Library Letterpress Studio, 4130 Campus Dr. College Park, MD 20740,) Partners (New Deal Cafe, 113 Centerway Greenbelt, MD 20770) and We Fought For What We Have (Shirlington Busboys & Poets, 4251 Campbell Ave, Arlington, VA 22206).
Click here for DCLFF screening details.

SPONSORS:

BENEFACTOR: SEIU
PATRONS: AFSCME * ATU * Bricklayers * IAM * LiUNA * SAG-AFTRA* ULLICO * Jay Youngdahl * Ken Grossinger * Micheline Klagsbrun * UNITE HERE! *

2026 Opening Night film tickets available now!

STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE! is a gripping portrait trailblazing journalist Amy Goodman, whose unwavering commitment to truth-telling spans three decades of turbulent history.

Tickets are now available for purchase at https://tinyurl.com/DCLFFStealThisStory

Volunteer at the DC Labor FilmFest—see films for free!

Want to catch some of this year’s DC Labor FilmFest—and help make it happen? Volunteers are a vital part of the festival, assisting with everything from ticket-taking and ushering to guest check-in and event support. As a thank-you, volunteers receive a pair of free passes to festival screenings. It’s a great way to support the festival, connect with fellow labor activists and film lovers, and be part of bringing these powerful stories to the screen.

Interested in volunteering? Email info@laborheritage.org for details and available shifts.

2026 Film Selections

AMERICAN DREAM (1990)
Fri, May 1, 4:00
Thurs, May 7, 4:15

A gripping, Oscar-winning look at a strike that tore a town apart—and what it reveals about the real cost of standing up to corporate power.

U.S., DIR/PROD Barbara Kopple; PROD Arthur Cohn.
Color, 98 min.
RATED PG-13

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Case 137 (2025)
Sun, May 10, 1:10 PM

A taut, quietly explosive investigation where one cop’s search for truth collides with police power, corruption, and her own conscience.

France, DIR Dominik Moll; PROD Caroline Benjo, Barbara Letellier, Carole Scotta.
Color, 116 min. In French with English subtitles.
NOT RATED

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EVERYBODY TO KENMURE STREET (2025)
Tues, May 24, 1:45

A spontaneous street protest erupts into a powerful community uprising as neighbors unite to stop a deportation in real time.

United Kingdom, DIR Felipe Bustos Sierra
Color, 25 min. In English.
NOT RATED.

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HARLAN COUNTY USA (1976)
Thurs, May 21, 7:00

An unflinching, frontline portrait of a brutal coal strike where a community risks everything to stand up to corporate power.

U.S., DIR/PROD Barbara Kopple
Color, 103 min.
RATED PG

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IDIOCRACY (2006)
Saturday, May 09, 9:00
Wednesday, May 13, 9:15

A razor-sharp cult satire that feels less like fiction every year—where the “dumbed-down” future looks a little too familiar.

US, DIR/PROD Mike Judge; PROD Elysa Koplovitz Dutton.
Color, 84 min.
RATED R

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LATE SHIFT (2025)
Sun, May 17, 1:20

A high-stakes hospital drama where one overworked nurse’s impossible shift spirals into a life-or-death crisis.

Switzerland/Germany, DIR Petra Volpe
Color, 92 min. In German with English subtitles.
NOT RATED.

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MADE IN EU (2025)
Sat, May 9, 1:30

A searing COVID-era drama where a factory worker becomes a scapegoat, exposing the human cost of profit-driven systems.

Bulgaria/ Germany/Czech Republic, DIR/PROD Stephan Komandarev; PROD Bekir Yusuf Aciksoz, Anna Maria Aslanoglu, Onder Furkan Besli, Zeynep Ekmekçi, Eike Goreczka, Christoph Kukula, Pavel Strnad, Katya Trichkova.
Color, 109 min. In Bulgarian with English subtitles.
NOT RATED

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MAN OF MARBLE (1977)
[CZLOWIEK Z MARMURU]
Sat, May 23, 11:15

A bold, probing film about a young director uncovering buried truths—and the power of art to challenge propaganda and authority.

Poland, DIR/PROD Andrzej Wajda
B&W/Color, 161 min. In Polish with English subtitles.
NOT RATED

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MAN OF IRON (1981)
[CZŁOWIEK Z ŻELAZA]
Sun, May 24, 1:15

A powerful, semi-documentary drama capturing the rise of Solidarity and the workers’ struggle that helped change history.

Poland, DIR Andrzej Wajda
B&W/Color, 153 min. In Polish with English subtitles.
RATED PG

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MODERN TIMES (1936)
Thurs, May 28, 7:00 (DCLFF Closing Night)

A brilliantly funny takedown of industrial life, where Chaplin’s Little Tramp battles machines—and loses his grip on what it means to be human.

U.S., DIR/SCR/PROD Charlie Chaplin.
B&W, 87 min.
NOT RATED

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NO OTHER CHOICE (2025)
Thurs, May 7, 6:30

A savage dark satire where one laid-off worker takes “job competition” to deadly extremes in a cutthroat capitalist world.

South Korea, DIR/PROD Park Chan-wook; PROD Back Jisun, Michèle Ray-Gavras, Alexandre Gavras.
Color, 139 min. In Korean with English subtitles.
RATED R

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SELF DRIVER (2024)
Fri, May 15, 9:15

A tense, nightmarish ride where a cab driver’s chase for quick cash pulls him into a shadowy world that tests how far he’ll go.

USA, DIR Michael Pierro.
Color, 82 min. In English.
NOT RATED.

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SORRY TO BOTHER YOU (2018)

Tue, May 26, 7:00

A wild, razor-sharp satire where a telemarketer’s rise to success reveals a bizarre and disturbing vision of corporate power.

U.S., DIR Boots Riley; PROD Nina Yang Bongiovi, Jonathan Duffy, Kelly Williams.
Color, 112 min. In English.
RATED R.

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STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE! (2025)
Fri, May 1, 6:45 (DCLFF Opening Night)
Sat, May 2, 12:00; 3:00 - Q&A with subject Amy Goodman and Academy Award®–nominated filmmaker Tia Lessin.

Additional screenings (no Q&A) May 3–7

A powerful, behind-the-scenes portrait of Amy Goodman and the fight to tell the stories mainstream media won’t.

U.S., DIR/PROD Carl Deal, Tia Lessin; PROD Diana Cohn, Karen Ranucci, Caren Spruch.
Color, 101 min.
NOT RATED

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WTO/99 (2025)
Sun, May 13, 7:00

A frontlines look at the Battle of Seattle, when labor and activists united to challenge corporate globalization in the streets.

U.S., DIR Ian Bell; PROD Laura Tatham, Ian Bell, Alex Megaro; ED Alex Megaro, Ian Bell.
Color, 102 min. In English.
NOT RATED.

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DC LaborFest Events

Commemorating Strikes: Creating Broadsides and Pamphlets
Friday, May 8, 1:00 PM
Hornbake Library Letterpress Studio, 4130 Campus Dr. College Park, MD 20740

Celebrate Labor History Month with the Labor Collections at the Hornbake Library Letterpress Studio by creating your own broadside highlighting issues important to you.

Attendees can also print pamphlets featuring information about local unions and labor rights.

Find out more about the event

Labor Films At Other Locations

Special Documentary Screening May 13

Before You Eat
Wednesday, May 13, 6PM
American University College of Law, 4300 Nebraska Ave. NW Washington, DC 20016

Have you ever considered the story behind your seafood and how it arrives from bait to plate?

Before You Eat is a powerful documentary directed by Kasan Kurdi, produced by the Union of Indonesian Migrant Workers (SBMI), and supported by Greenpeace Indonesia. It details the experiences of Indonesian migrant fishers who report having been tricked into working on vessels that supply seafood to many consumer brands around the world. Accompanied by free fish-less sushi.

This film screening will be followed by a conversation with Indonesian migrant fishers from SBMI who have experienced challenges and abuses on industrial fishing vessels, as well as SBMI Chairman Hariyanto Suwarno. Discussion will be moderated by Judy Gearhart of the Accountability Research Center.

This event is sponsored by the Accountability Research Center, SBMI, and Greenpeace USA.

Find out more and reserve tickets

Special Documentary Screening May 18

Partners: How Starbucks Baristas Started a Labor Revolution
Monday, May 18, 6PM
The New Deal Cafe, 113 Centerway, Greenbelt, MD 20770
Or ONLINE via Zoom (Click here to register for the online screening)
Part of the Reel And A Meal At The New Deal series

When a group of baristas in Buffalo, New York announce their intention to start a labor union, Starbucks responds with an elaborate, illegal anti-union attack. Featuring on-the-ground footage from workers and organizers, Partners takes us to the front lines of the historic union campaign that catalyzed America’s Gen Z labor revival.

Free screening sponsored by Prince George's County Peace & Justice Coalition and Utopia Film Festival

Special Documentary Screening May 27

We Fought For What We Have
Wednesday, May 27, 6PM to 8PM
Shirlington Busboys & Poets, 4251 Campbell Ave, Arlington, VA 22206
Hosted by NoVA Labor, ATU 689 & the DC LaborFest.
Q&A with Striking Transit Workers, moderated by Ginny Diamond

NOTE: This is an independent screening; DCLFF AFI passes are NOT valid for this screening.

In 2019, ATU Local 689 had its first labor strike in 41 years. Since then its had 10 different strikes at transit employers across the nation's capital region. Learn from the workers themselves how they relearned their union's history as an organizing, fighting, and striking union. This documentary sponsored by ATU Local 689 features interviews with long time members, archival footage from the early 20th century, and live captured footage of countless organizing campaigns around the region.

Find out more and purchase tickets

DC International Film Festival: April 18 & 19

BARISTAS VS BILLIONAIRES

Sat, April 18, 9:00; Sun, April 19, 3:00, with filmmakers Mark Mori, Bob Judson, and Dennis L.A. White in attendance for Q&As moderated by LHF Executive Director Chris Garlock.

NOTE: These are Washington DC International Film Festival screenings; DCLFF AFI passes are NOT valid for these screenings.

Buffalo, New York, is a union town first, a coffee town second. In 2021, when local Starbucks baristas had had enough of low wages, insufficient health insurance, and other workplace inequities, the call was "No contract, no coffee." The fight for the right to unionize Starbucks has now spread nationally to some 600 stores, led not by union bosses but by brave working-class Millennials and Gen Zs risking (and sometimes losing) their only livelihoods. Through their voices, this compelling documentary by Oscar®-nominee and Emmy-winner Mark Mori, narrated by Susan Sarandon, vividly conveys the personal side of what has become a generational struggle. CEO Howard Schultz, long the corporate face of Starbucks, comes out with egg (or perhaps foam) on his face but billions to spare. The struggle continues, but knowing that these young organizers are the labor movement's future is something to smile about over your morning joe.—Judy Bloch

MARK MORI, USA, 2025, 79 minutes, Color

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS

DC LABOR FILMFEST SELECTIONS ANNOUNCED

2026 DC LABOR FILMFEST: May 1–31

AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD

2026 Opening Night film tickets available now!

2026 Film Selections

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