The Killing Floor
Critic's Choice Spotlight: Jen Johans • Classics, Drama
Praised by The Village Voice as the most "clear-eyed account of union organizing on film," THE KILLING FLOOR tells the little-known true story of the struggle to build an interracial labor union in the Chicago Stockyards. The screenplay by Obie Award-winner Leslie Lee, based on an original story by producer Elsa Rassbach, traces the racial and class conflicts seething in the city’s giant slaughterhouses, and the brutal efforts of management to divide the workforce along ethnic lines, which eventually boiled over in the Chicago Race Riot of 1919.
The first feature film by director Bill Duke, THE KILLING FLOOR premiered on PBS' American Playhouse series in 1984 to rave reviews. In 1985 the film was invited to Cannes and won the Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Award. It has been showcased at the Lincoln Center and festivals around the world.
New 4K restoration. Laboratory services by UCLA Film & Television Archive Digital Media Lab; Audio Services by Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, Inc.; Digital Color Grading by Planemo (Berlin) and Alpha-Omega digital (Münich). Special thanks to Elsa Rassbach and the Sundance Institute Collection at UCLA Film & Television Archive.
AN ELSA RASSBACH PRODUCTION | DIRECTED BY BILL DUKE
UNITED STATES | 1985 | ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Up Next in Critic's Choice Spotlight: Jen Johans
-
Mother of Mine
During World War II, more than 70,000 Finnish children were evacuated to neutral Sweden to avoid the conflict. Mother of Mine, directed by the award-winning Klaus Härö (Elina), tackles that painful patch of history in a tale of 9-year-old Eero, a child who increasingly feels abandoned by his biol...
-
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?
In this madcap and lighthearted comedic romp, introverted optometrist Weichung begins to question his marriage with his wife Feng, upon learning of her desire to have another baby. At his sister’s engagement party, Weichung bumps into an old friend, Stephen, a wedding photographer who, though als...
-
White Riot
Britain, late-1970s. Punk is exploding. The country is deeply divided over immigration with the National Front, a far-right political party, gaining strength. Outraged by this xenophobic agenda and a racist speech from Eric Clapton, music photographer Red Saunders teams up with like-minded creati...
