Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1124770
61 Q2 2019 / CINEMONTAGE changed the fundamental direction of the American economy... "So far, only one candidate among the 2020 contenders has an agenda with this level of ambition: Elizabeth Warren. Her platform aims to reform American capitalism so that it once again works well for most American families. The recent tradition in Democratic politics has been different. It has been largely to accept that big companies are going to get bigger and do everything they can to hold down workers' pay..." UNION MARKS WOMEN'S HISTORY WITH REAL 'ROSIE THE RIVETER' When Local 223 of the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) planned a Rosie the Riveter event in Dearborn, Michigan, little did they know a real Rosie would be there, writes Sue Suchyta for The Press and Guide. The event, held March 22, featured a real-life Rosie the Riveter — 93-year-old Helen Kushnir — who lives about a mile from the union hall, and had riveted center wing assemblies for the Curtis SBC2 Helldiver Navy aircraft in 1944, at the height of World War II. Kushnir was presented with an honorary plaque by US Representative Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan 12th District) and union officer Juanita Ray. McDONALD'S RELENTS ON MINIMUM WAGE HIKES After years of strikes, lawsuits and devastating public scrutiny of how fast food's business model uses taxpayer- subsidized poverty wages, McDonald's officially withdrew its strategy to block federal minimum wage hikes in late March, according to Alan Pyke in Think Progress. The chain will also stop its efforts against minimum wage increases at state and local levels, it told lobbying partners at the National Restaurant Association in a letter. GLOBAL BOX OFFICE HITS RECORD $41B A boom at the US box office saw worldwide ticket sales hit a record $41.1 billion in 2018, a slight year-over- year gain, according to the Motion Picture Association of America's annual report released on March 1, writes Pamela McClintock in The Hollywood Reporter. Revenues from North America and Canada came in at a record-breaking $11.9 billion — a big seven percent spike over 2017 — while attendance was up five percent. Foreign box office tallied $29.2 billion, a slight drop from 2016 that marked the first decline in recent memory, even though it was slight. 100 GREATEST FILMS DIRECTED BY WOMEN "For as long as there have been movies, there have been women making them," write a long list of contributors to IndieWire in late February, namely Christian Blauvelt, Eric Kohn, Anne Thompson, Kate Erbland, David Ehrlich, Chris O'Falt, Jude Dry, Tom Brueggemann, Bill Desowitz, Tambay Obenson, Michael Nordine and Zack Sharf. "When the Lumière brothers were shocking audiences with their unbelievable depiction of a running train, Alice Guy-Blaché was pioneering her own techniques in the brand new artform," they explain. "When D.W. Griffith was pioneering advances in the art, and building his own studio to make his work, Lois Weber was doing, well, the exact same thing. When Hollywood was deep in its Golden Age, Dorothy Arzner, Dorothy Davenport, Tressie Souders and many more women were right there, making their own films. It's not even a trend that really abated because it was never a trend. For so long, women being filmmakers was simply part of the norm." The entire list can be found at www.IndieWire. com2019/02/female-directors-best-movies-directed-by- women-1202045399/. The top ten chosen films follow: 10. Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash, 1991) 9. Seven Beauties (Lina Wertmüller, 1976) 8. Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, 1943) 7. Cléo from 5 to 7 (Agnes Varda, 1962) 6. Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig, 2017) 5. Daisies (Vera Chytilova, 1966) 4. A League of Their Own (Penny Marshall, 1992) 3. The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993) 2. Beau Travail (Claire Denis, 1999) 1. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman, 1975) f LABOR MAT TERS Honoree Helen Kushnir, left, 93, an original Rosie the Riveter, with US Representative Debbie Dingell and Juanita Ray of Local 223 UWUA, tears up when she receives a plaque during the union's celebration of Women's History Month in Dearborn, Michigan in March. Photo by Sue Suchyta. Courtesy of The Press & Guide