Union Maids
UW Cinematheque 821 University Ave., UW Vilas Hall, Room 4070, Madison, Wisconsin
press release: USA | 1976 | DCP | 48 min.
Director: Julia Reichert, Jim Klein, Miles Mogulescu
Union Maids opens up one of the great untold stories in our history - the fight to form industrial unions in the first half of the 20th century. The film follows three remarkable women - Stella, Sylvia, and Kate - as they leave their small farms for the bright lights of Chicago and the promise of greater job opportunities. Filled with humorous storytelling, the women recount their experiences of working fourteen hours a day in factories where management had all the power and workers had none – especially women and minorities. A compelling history of the era unfolds as they recall their first union meetings, the days of sit-down strikes, organizing the Congress of Industrial Organizations in the stockyards, and facing police shotguns to fight the evictions of unemployed workers. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Julia Reichert: 50 Years in Film: Emmy Award-winner and three-time Academy Award-nominee Julia Reichert has produced one of the most distinguished bodies of work in American independent documentaries. To celebrate the Ohio-based filmmaker, the Cinematheque is proud
to participate as a venue for this touring retrospective, organized by the Wexner Center in Columbus, that spans Reicher’s career from the landmark feminist conscious-raiser Growing Up Female (1971) to her most recent films including 9to5: The Story of a Movement (2019). Julia Reichert will appear in person on Saturday, November 16, to present her Oscar-nominated feature, Seeing Red: Stories of American Communists. Special Thanks to the Wexner Center’s Dave Filipi.