American Dream
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“You Have to Be There”: Barbara Kopple Looks Back on American Dream
Set in Austin, Minnesota, a company town where nearly every resident has a connection to food-processing giant Hormel Foods, Barbara Kopple’s American Dream (1990) embeds with unionized Hormel meatpackers as they respond to a 23 percent hourly wage cut in a time of unprecedented corporate profits. Kopple and her collaborators embedded with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local P-9 for a year. The film spans the Austin local’s initial PR push, their tactical disagreements with the UFCW leadership, their protracted contract negotiation process, and, ultimately, their year-long strike from 1985 to 1986. Gathering a wide array of voices—workers, […]
by Sierra Pettengill on May 1, 2026 -
DOCS ON THE CAPE: THE 20TH WOODS HOLE FILM FESTIVAL
“Oh no, the festival hasn’t changed at all in 20 years,” Judy Laster, founder and director of the Woods Hole Film Festival, says with a devilish twinkle in her eyes. Twenty years ago the first Woods Hole Film Festival was one-hour long with five short films. Today it’s eight-days long and over 100 films with panel discussions and workshops and some of the best social events on the festival circuit. “We could be much larger,” Judy adds, “if we wanted to be. But we don’t. You don’t have to be Sundance to have impact.” Small yet prestigious, community-anchored with national […]
by Stewart Nusbaumer on Aug 9, 2011
