Der schwarze Kanal (The Black Channel) was a series of political propaganda programs aired weekly between 1960 and 1989 by East German state television broadcaster DFF. Read our film reviews below.
BARBARA KOPPLE’S HARLAN COUNTY USA AND AMERICAN DREAM. By Sebastian Heiduschke
I grew up in Germany, where unions are not only omnipresent but also wield tremendous political power. When transport workers go on strike—which they do regularly—the country comes to a screeching halt. I missed many school days because the train taking me into the city was not running. That was probably the moment when I began to appreciate unions and to understand how striking is an important tool in their toolbox, forcing companies and corporations to take serious talks about fair wages and better working conditions much more seriously.
Fast forward a few decades. I now live and work in the United States, and until 2018, I was on my own—until United Academics of OSU, the faculty union, was formed. Still, I know that a strike by academics would pale in comparison to the grueling coal miners’ strike in a small Kentucky town depicted in Barbara Kopple’s Academy Award–winning documentary Harlan County, USA. Violence involving scabs (strikebreakers), local police, and even company thugs are just a few elements of the thirteen‑month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to protecting its bottom line. Kopple spent eighteen months on location and shot hundreds of hours of footage. The film is powerful—one of its most iconic scenes shows guns being fired at the striking miners, during which Kopple and her cinematographer are knocked down and beaten. The soundtrack is equally mind‑boggling, featuring legendary country and bluegrass artists Hazel Dickens, Merle Travis, Sarah Gunning, and Florence Reece. Kopple won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 1977. Roger Ebert called it “one of the best documentaries I have ever seen.”
Kopple repeated the feat of winning an Academy Award in 1991, this time with her film American Dream, which chronicles the 1985–86 strike by workers at the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota. Yes, SPAM lovers were probably heartbroken. Once again, Kopple does an excellent job highlighting the conflicts faced by labor unions as they confront corporate interests. What I found most compelling was that the workers who decided to strike for better pay and improved working conditions—after suffering pay cuts—defied both the company and their own national union, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. The walkout lasted almost a year. This is about as American as a film can get, and it calls on all of us to organize and show solidarity with one another. That is no small challenge. Kopple convinced not only me, but also the Academy, and received a well‑deserved second Oscar. Who else has won two Academy Awards as a director? Clint Eastwood, Miloš Forman, Ang Lee, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, and Billy Wilder. Kopple is in very good company.
These are two films you should see on the big screen for several reasons. First, they are incredibly difficult to obtain, and when you do manage to find them, the image quality can be disappointing. Janus Films has now restored both titles in stunning new 4K versions. Second, these screenings offer the chance to share the experience with union workers who will be present and to engage in post‑film discussions about labor in the United States. Who knows—you might even walk out of the theater as a new union member, your fist raised in solidarity, knowing that you have just made the world a little bit better.
Watch HARLAN COUNTY and AMERICAN DREAM. One day only. No online ticketing.