[scimc-news] April 6, film screening of "The Take" at Barrios Unidos, 7pm

Thu Mar 31 00:57:21 PST 2005

Dear Santa Cruz Indymedia community,

PLEASE FORWARD THIS INIVATION TO YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, and FELLOW WORKERS!

-------------------------------------------------
Visit this link for more infomation and an image!
http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/03/1730417.php
-------------------------------------------------

April 6, film screening of "The Take" to benefit Indybay.org

Santa Cruz Indymedia activists were given a copy of The Take, a new film
by Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein about worker expropriation of factories in
Argentina after the 2001 economic collapse. There will be a free screening
of this excellent documentary on Wednesday, April 6th, 7:00pm, at Barrios
Unidos (1817 Soquel Ave).

We are trying to raise funds to support Indybay.org, the San Francisco Bay
Area IMC. Why are we raising funds for Indybay? Since August of 2000,
Indybay has become one of the most active Independent Media Centers,
through Indybay.org and projects like Enemy Combatant Radio, Fault Lines
Newspaper, and Street Level TV. Indybay is an important resource beyond
the Bay Area, and has provided excellent coverage of the social movements
and governmental collapses that have taken place in Argentina over the
last few years. Now Indybay needs our help buying another server, because
the current hard disks are almost completely filled up (with radical,
independent media).

So come on out to Barrios Unidos (1817 Soquel Ave) on Wednesday, April 6
at 7:00pm to get educated and inspired from The Take, and support
Indymedia.

Film Description from TheTake.org:

The Take is a political thriller that turns the globalization debate on
its head. The film follows Argentina’s radical new movement of occupied
businesses: groups of workers who are claiming the country’s bankrupt
workplaces and running them without bosses.

In suburban Buenos Aires, thirty unemployed auto-parts workers walk into
their idle factory, roll out sleeping mats and refuse to leave.

All they want is to re-start the silent machines. But this simple act —The
Take — has the power to turn the globalization debate on its head.

In the wake of Argentina’s dramatic economic collapse in 2001, Latin
America’s most prosperous middle class finds itself in a ghost town of
abandoned factories and mass unemployment. The Forja auto plant lies
dormant until its former employees take action. They’re part of a daring
new movement of workers who are occupying bankrupt businesses and creating
jobs in the ruins of the failed system.

But Freddy, the president of the new worker’s co-operative, and Lalo, the
political powerhouse from the Movement of Recovered Companies, know that
their success is far from secure. Like every workplace occupation, they
have to run the gauntlet of courts, cops and politicians who can either
give their project legal protection or violently evict them from the
factory.

The story of the workers’ struggle is set against the dramatic backdrop of
a crucial presidential election in Argentina, in which the architect of
the economic collapse, Carlos Menem, is the front-runner. His cronies, the
former owners, are circling: if he wins, they’ll take back the companies
that the movement has worked so hard to revive.

Armed only with slingshots and an abiding faith in shop-floor democracy,
the workers face off against the bosses, bankers and a whole system that
sees their beloved factories as nothing more than scrap metal for sale.

With The Take, director Avi Lewis, one of Canada’s most outspoken
journalists, and writer Naomi Klein, author of the international
bestseller No Logo, champion a radical economic manifesto for the 21st
century. But what shines through in the film is the simple drama of
workers’ lives and their struggle: the demand for dignity and the searing
injustice of dignity denied.

www.TheTake.org

* Please note! This film will also be shown at the Del Mar Theatre on
Thursday, April 28, as part of the Reelwork Labor Film Festival.
Afterwards, there will be a presentation and discussion with a panel of
worker activists from the Argentinean social movements. So please, spread
the word and help fill up the Del Mar on April 28!!!