IndependentFilm.com

SILVER SPRING, Md., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center will host the 2005 DC LABOR FILMFEST, an annual festival of films that explores working life, produced by the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO; Debs-Jones-Douglass Institute; and American Film Institute. This year's Festival, to be presented at AFI Silver Theatre from September 15 to 21, focuses on themes relevant to workers everywhere -- from women's work issues to the travails of soldiering and striking for better work conditions.

In its fifth year, 2005 DC LABOR FILMFEST offers the Festival's most prestigious highlights to date, including special onstage appearances by two Academy Award winners, actress Jane Fonda -- with a 25th Anniversary Special Screening of NINE TO FIVE -- and documentarian Barbara Kopple, onstage to present HARLAN COUNTY, USA, the Oscar-winning documentary about workers on strike. Washington, DC, area premieres include a new documentary by director David Redmon, who will introduce MARDI GRAS: MADE IN CHINA onstage opening night, and the highly touted, often-humorous Canadian montage of clips about the women who operated the phone lines in North America from 1903 to 1989 -- THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERATOR.

"We're honored that some of the most notable, qualified voices in cinema will be joining us to discuss labor issues captured so brilliantly on film," says AFI Silver Theatre Director Murray Horwitz. "It's gratifying to be able to present such an engaging assortment of films about working life, films that audiences can relate to, feel for, laugh with -- covering just about all the emotions that accompany the workforce experience."

The Festival's exploration of working life includes features and documentaries about issues facing women in the workforce -- from navigating gender politics (NINE TO FIVE) to toiling as maids (MAIDS, by THE CONSTANT GARDENER director Fernando Meirelles), telephone operators (THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERATOR) and offshore factory bead workers (MARDI GRAS: MADE IN CHINA). From Italy, Ermanno Omi's moving 1961 classic IL POSTO offers sharp observations on the dehumanizing aspects of corporate enterprise. Capturing the sometimes life-threatening challenges of the world of work is brothers Brent and Craig Renaud's chronicle of soldiering in Iraq (OFF TO WAR) and Barbara Kopple's multi award-winning time capsules of strikes in a Kentucky coal mine (HARLAN COUNTY, USA) and a Minnesota factory (AMERICAN DREAM). Director Alexandra Lescaze will introduce her record of the largest union victory in the history of the South -- WHERE DO YOU STAND? STORIES FROM AN AMERICAN MILL. A humorous slant on the modern workplace will be provided by the satirical cult classic OFFICE SPACE.

Special events include the September 15 opening night onstage conversation with director David Redmon; Academy Award-winning documentarian Barbara Kopple September 16 with HARLAN COUNTY, USA; a special September 17 invitational reception for Jane Fonda and Karen Nussbaum, co-founder of 9to5, the organization for women office workers that inspired NINE TO FIVE, before a 7:30 p.m. open-to-the-public 25th Anniversary Screening of the film, with Fonda and Nussbaum live onstage; and September 18 appearances by director Alexandra Lescaze and The Hon. David Bonior, Chair, American Rights at Work.

For more information about 2005 DC LABOR FILMFEST, visit www.dclaborfilmfest.org, www.AFI.com/Silver or call 301.495.6700 for recorded programming information.

Tickets for all screenings (except the 25th Anniversary Screening of NINE TO FIVE) are $9.25 for general audiences; $7.50 for seniors, students and AFI members. Tickets may be purchased online without a service fee at www.AFI.com/SILVER or at the AFI Silver Theatre Box Office. Tickets for the special 25th Anniversary Screening of NINE TO FIVE, featuring a special onstage introduction and discussion by Jane Fonda and Working America Executive Director Karen Nussbaum, are $15, proceeds for which benefit Working America.

WHAT: 2005 DC LABOR FILMFEST

WHO: Actress Jane Fonda, Directors Barbara Kopple, David Redmon,
Alexandra Lescaze; The Hon. David Bonior, Chair, American
Rights at Work

WHEN: Thursday, September 15 through Wednesday, September 21

WHERE: AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center
8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, Maryland

TICKETS: Available at the AFI Silver Box Office and
online at www.AFI.com/Silver
Institute

Source: AFI; Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO; Debs-Jones-Douglass

Web site: http://www.afi.com/Silver

Web site: http://www.dclaborfilmfest.org