Factory Film Festival opens Tuesday, March 23

The rise of film as a commercial medium in many ways parallels the rise of industrial production. Indeed, Louis Lumière’s historic Leaving the Lumière Factory (1895), a 46-second black-and-white short that shows workers streaming away at the end of their shifts, is widely considered to be the first true motion picture.

Beginning Tuesday, March 23, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will explore for three days three influential depictions of factory life with the Factory Film Festival. Held in conjunction with the exhibition Sharon Lockhart: Lunch Break, the festival will include screenings of Modern Times at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 23; Norma Rae at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 24; and 24 City at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 25.

“These three films are radically different from one another and yet they bear some striking and instructive similarities,” says Sydney Norton, the museum’s coordinator for education and public programs. “Taken together, they not only offer viewers a snapshot of the evolution of factory work, but also of how that work and the worker are perceived and valued by society at large.”

Sally Field in Norma Rae, which will be screened March 24.

All three screenings take place at the Tivoli Theatre, 6350 Delmar Blvd., and are free and open to the public.

Lunch Break — which consists of films and photographs made during the course of a year Lockhart spent engaging workers at the Bath Iron Works in Maine — remains on view at the Kemper Art Museum through April 19. The museum is located on the campus of Washington University, near the intersection of Skinker and Forsyth boulevards. Regular hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays; and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. The museum is closed Tuesdays.

For more information about the film festival or the exhibition, call (314) 935-4523 or visit kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu.

Schedule of Events

7 p.m. Tuesday, March 23
Tivoli Theatre
Modern Times (1936)
Directed by Charlie Chaplin

This hilarious yet socially conscious comedy finds Chaplin returning to his iconic role, the Little Tramp, a rumpled everyman who struggles to survive amidst the indignities of the modern, industrialized world. It also was Chaplin’s first overtly political film, frankly depicting the desperate unemployment faced by many during the Great Depression — conditions created, in Chaplin’s view, by the unforgiving efficiencies of industrialization. Also starring Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Stanley Sandford and Chester Conklin.

7 p.m. Wednesday, March 24
Tivoli Theatre
Norma Rae (1979)
Directed by Martin Ritt

Based on a true story, Norma Rae stars Sally Field in an Oscar-winning performance as a Southern mill worker who revolutionizes a small Alabama town. Laboring in almost Dickensian circumstances, Rae is inspired by a New York union organizer to fight for better conditions and wages — and, despite the pressures exerted by management, successfully orchestrates an election to unionize the factory. Also starring Beau Bridges and Ron Leibman.

Zhao Tao in 24 City, which will be screened March 25. High-resolution image available upon request. Courtesy of The Cinema Guild.

7 p.m. Thursday, March 25
Tivoli Theatre
24 City (2008)
Directed by Jia Zhang-ke

Blending fiction and documentary, 24 City puts a human face on the consequences of modern China’s rapid industrial and economic growth. Shot in Chengdu, in the Sichuan province, the film documents the history of state-owned Factory 420, a once-booming plant that was demolished in 2007 to make room for an upscale apartment complex. Interviews with former factory workers are interwoven with fictional scenes starring three leading actors: Joan Chen, Lu Liping and Zhao Tao. Ironically, the film premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival just four days after a massive earthquake devastated parts of Chengdu.

The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum

The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, part of Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, is committed to furthering critical thinking and visual literacy through a vital program of exhibitions, publications and accompanying events. The museum dates back to 1881, making it the oldest art museum west of the Mississippi River. Today it boasts one of the finest university collections in the United States.