LONG TAKE is a series of three screenings at Four Corners, LUX and MayDay Rooms, which brings together films by the 1930s Workers’ Film & Photo League with contemporary activist films to explore themes of housing, empire and work.
A screening of five films on workers’ struggles, from 1935 protests to today’s fights for workers’ justice. Followed by discussion.
Strife
Film & Photo League, 1937, 26 mins
Filmed in 1935 on 16mm and originally titled ‘Fight’, this attempts to put authentic working class lives on screen in a fictionalised drama produced by workers themselves. The film echoes constructivist devices in its use of close-ups, jaunty angles and distinctive montage sequences, but it is the use of real-life locations and non-professional actors that appear most modern today.
Construction
Film & Photo League, 1935, 10 mins
The Workers’ Film & Photo League manifesto insists that ‘the time has come for workers to produce films and photos of their own’, and the opening credit declares that the film was ‘made by the men on the job’. Shot by carpenter and amateur filmmaker, Alf Garrard, with a concealed camera, the ingenious shooting style results in imaginative angles with a not infrequent lack of focus.
United Voices
Hazel Falck, 2020, 22 mins
This film follows a group of outsourced cleaners, caterers and porters at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, employed by Sodexo, as they organise and embark on their first strike action. They are led by Loreta Younsi and Vitalija Mohamed Mohsen to demand and try to win the London Living Wage, contractual sick pay, safer working conditions, and equality with NHS staff.
10 Years of IWGB
IWGB Union, 2023, 19 mins
The Independent Workers’ union of Great Britain is a grassroots member-led union fighting for justice for workers. Founded 2012 by Latin American cleaners organising for better working conditions, it has grown to thousands of members. This film takes a look back at its history, the achievements of its members and its vision for the future.
Birmingham binworkers strike
Reel News, 2026, 15 mins
The Birmingham binworkers have been out on strike for over a year fighting a life-changing £8,000 a year cut in their pay – disgracefully, by a Labour council. As the council grows increasingly isolated and unpopular, this dispute is being watched closely by other councils across the country… If the binworkers win it could be the start of a serious push for more funding for our cash-starved public services.
Discussion with members of the IWGB, video activist Shaun Dey, MayDay Rooms, artist and researcher Matthias Kispert, and artist filmmaker and lecturer Samuel Stevens.
Sign up here