Film Notes: Labor movie series kicks off with factory fire doc
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"Triangle Fire," a documentary about the deadly 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in New York, will open The Battle of Homestead Foundation's annual movie series.
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Two films about the deadly 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire will be shown Thursday to mark Workers Memorial Day, honoring those killed on the job.
The Battle of Homestead Foundation will open its annual movie series with a documentary about the March 25, 1911, catastrophe that killed 146. A fire broke out in the upper floors of a New York garment factory where workers, mostly young Jewish and Italian women, were unable to escape due to locked and blocked doors.
Some tried to jump to safety but found certain death on the sidewalk below. Firemen's nets were broken by the force of bodies, ladders proved to be too short to reach those trapped, fire escapes were missing or overrun, and many women burned to death as shocked onlookers stood helplessly nearby.
The series at the Pump House of the old Homestead Works will show "Triangle Fire," an hour-long "American Experience" documentary produced to mark the anniversary of the tragedy, along with a 9-minute short, "Triangle Returns: Young Women Continue to Die in Locked Sweatshops."
The program is free and starts at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at 880 E. Waterfront Drive in Munhall.
Also scheduled as part of the series, all free (although donations accepted):
• "Coal Country" -- Documentary exploring the impact, benefits and costs of mountaintop removal in contemporary West Virginia. Screens at 7:30 p.m. May 26.
• "One Day Longer: The Story of the Frontier Strike" -- This film examines one of the longest strikes in American history, as workers at the Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas went on strike in 1991 after the company slashed wages and benefits. The strikers held a 24-hour picket line for more than six years, and none of the union members ever crossed it. 7:30 p.m. June 30.
• "Struggles in Steel: A Story of African-American Steelworkers" -- A photography exhibit will accompany this documentary by filmmaker Tony Buba and activist and one-time steelworker Ray Henderson. They tell the forgotten story of the struggle for equality in Pittsburgh's steel industry and the labor movement through archival footage and eloquent recollections. 7:30 p.m. July 28.
First Published April 22, 2011 12:00 am
