Category Archives: made by me

New Film! “Clean In: How Hotel Workers Fought For a Union—And Won”

What happens when the working mothers employed as housekeepers at a Harvard-owned hotel decide to “lean in” for higher wages and better working conditions? ¿Puede la solidaridad femenina unir a las clases?

In celebration of International Women’s Day, and in solidarity with today’s Women’s Strike, The Nation Magazine has released my long-in-the-making collaboration with Sarah Leonard about a group of immigrant working mothers who sought to unionize their Harvard-owned workplace – and in doing so asked Harvard’s first female president & Sheryl Sandberg “which side are you on?”

Their story shows us what a “feminism for the 99%” might look like.

CLEAN IN is a 21min video essay featuring music by bilingual political punk band Downtown Boys and Puerto Rican shoegaze band Un.Real. It’s a companion piece to Sarah’s long-form essay, Housekeepers Versus Harvard: Feminism for the Age of Trump.

Regardless of whether or not you are striking today, I hope you might find some time to read Sarah’s essay and watch CLEAN IN.

Spoiler alert: unlike 99% of labor stories, this piece has a happy ending! It’s a genuinely inspiring tale of how creative organizing and cross-class solidarity can achieve real, concrete, material (and nonmaterial) improvements in the lives of working people.

Happy International Women’s Day!
¡Feliz Día Internacional de la Mujer!

PS: This project emerged out of a socialist feminist reading group which has deeply informed how I think about both feminism and the economy. In honor of today’s strike, members of that group have collaborated on A Women’s Strike Syllabus. Check it out!

Over a Year of DIY Bernie & Down-Ballot Graphic Design

In September of 2016, Kingston for Bernie began by choosing the issues we thought were most important & creating a flier.
Reverse side of the first issues flier. People had no idea that the party registration deadline was so soon, and the official campaign did nothing to warn us! It was an entirely grassroots effort at the state and county level.
Ulster for Bernie coordinated petition signing parties around the county & we used the same graphics for events in multiple cities.
Cover graphic for the Facebook event.
Kingston for Bernie’s biggest event.
One of a handful of quick & dirty fliers made to publicize important dates. The issues flier went on the reverse.
This was printed as a double-sided 1/2 sheet.
Another double-sided 1/2 sheet. Never ended up handing this one out because it was information overload – why is it so damn complicated to vote?
BBQ in the park after we lost the primary
Beginning of the GET DOWN (BALLOT)! campaign.
Our one victory! Blasted this out over facebook and email the night before the days leading up to the election.
Poster for our second party
Facebook cover image for second party
Trying to tie the Teachout campaign into the bigger movement
Trying to remind people how much power is available at the state level
publicizing GOTV events
Despite best intentions to make this viral, it never took off and he got over 1,300 votes on the Green line.

Watch ‘Ashley/Amber’ FREE on IndieFlix this Week

indieflix-picofweek

Ashley/Amber is IndieFlix’s “FreeFlix” of the week. This a very sweet deal: you get to watch the newly remastered version for free if you register for a free IndieFlix account – no credit card required – and IndieFlix pays me for every minute watched, regardless of whether it’s a paying subscriber doing the watching.

WATCH ASHLEY/AMBER FREE ON INDIEFLIX

If you’d prefer to not register for IndieFlix, or if you are finding this post after the week ends, please click here for all the other ways to watch.

‘Ashley/Amber’ Re-mastered

maritza

You may recognize Diane Guerrero as Maritza on Orange Is The New Black, the second season of which premieres this Friday. But I’m can smugly say I discovered her, when I cast her as the lead in my short film Ashley/Amber.

In a shameless attempt to ride on the coattails of OITNB’s success, today I’m releasing a remastered, color-corrected version of Ashley/Amber on demand through VHX and Vimeo for one dollar (actually, VHX allows you to pay more than that, should you be feeling generous). Your support goes directly to the development of my next film.

Ashley/Amber is also streaming on IndieFlix. Using these referral links, you can purchase a discounted subscription for $5/month, first month free or $35/year and access a curated collection of tons of sweet indie films, short and long.

Curious but don’t feel like shelling out a buck? You can still watch the less sexy, un-remastered version on Youtube.

For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, Ashley/Amber is a 22min dark comedy about an antiwar activist who becomes an internet celebrity after being outed as the one-time star of porn video. It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2011 and has since screened around the world. Travis Keune of We Are Movie Geeks calls it “an introspective short film about American politics and a skewed sense of morality.” sonnycarson86 of Youtube.com says “I liked the movie but show more tits next time.”

Will there be a next time? In addition to throwing me a dollar, you can help me make it easier for me to make the next film by sharing this one on your preferred social networks:

http://ashley-amber.com/watch

trailer: http://vimeo.com/ondemand/ashleyamber/95555956
twitter: @ashleyamberfilm
fb: https://www.facebook.com/ashleyamberthemovie

official press release: http://ashley-amber.com/2014/06/from-porn-to-politics

You can also sign-up for my email list for infrequent updates about future projects.
Thanks!
Rebecca

ashleyamber-poster-small

Coming Soon: “Class Action” Film Essay

photo-classaction

I’m honored to announce that one of my first projects as Multimedia Editor of Jacobin Magazine is a companion video to “Class Action,” a critique of neoliberal education reform produced by Jacobin & the Chicago Teachers Union’s CORE Caucus.

I’m a bit late in blogging this news and now there’s only 10 hours left to back the project. Do it! Your money supports the printing of a full-color booklet documenting the destruction of America’s public schools currently taking place under the guise of “reform.” Copies will be given to unions & community groups to use for fundraising and organizing, but won’t be for sale online. But a $10 Kickstarter pledge gets you a physical copy. (My video will be available for free.)

The propaganda machine of the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM) is sophisticated and insanely well-funded, and has nearly succeeded in masquerading the gutting of our public school system as a “progressive” movement. The actual fruits of GERM include undermining teachers unions and democratic school boards through privately run charter schools; a counterproductive obsession with standardized testing and unidimensional “accountability”; and the shuttering of dozens of schools in cities across the country. The research supporting GERM ranges from non-existent to fraudulent. Rarely do these reforms benefit students, quite often the reverse, though the billionaires who fund the movement do stand to profit both directly and indirectly.

My video will be an attempt at a counter-narrative exposing the pernicious role that billionaire philanthropists and their foundations play in the “education reform” debate. The video will be based on an essay in the booklet by Joanne Barkan, who has done excellent reporting on the subject, and will feature images from Katrina Ohstrom of abandoned Chicago schools. This project is my first foray into the film essay, a form I’ve long admired. I hope I can do the material justice. Stay tuned!

ASHLEY/AMBER screening in Williamsburg this Sunday, 7/14

This may be the last time Ashley/Amber screens at an actual movie theater! And in Williamsburg no less — maximum convenience for all you yuppie scum who can still afford to live there (jk I love you pls give me $$ for next movie thnx). Still easy, and $5 beer special, for all you broke proles who live on lesser stops off G & L trains (jk u r yuppie scum too).

Cinema Club Vol. XVIII

CINEMA CLUB PRESENTS

Volume XVIII:
Short Films

Sunday
July 14th

Indie Screen
289 Kent Ave @ S. 2nd st
Doors – 4 PM
Show – 5 PM

$5 tickets
(cash only)
+
$2 Raffle Tickets
–Winner gets 2 FREE tickets to any film at Indie Screen —

Featuring films by:

David Bly
Addison Mehr
Rebecca Rojer
Geroni J
Max Sherwood

HAPPY HOUR 4-5PM
$5 Draft Beers

CINEMA CLUB
cinemaclub.us
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