With These Hands: The Story of an American Furniture Factory

Apr 25, 2009

1h 18m

★ 0.0

Overview

In 2007, unable to compete with cheaper offshore production, Hooker Furniture Co. closed its plant in Martinsville, Virginia, after 83 years in operation. With These Hands follows the last load of wood down the assembly line as it is cut, honed, and assembled into fine furniture. Along the way, employees at the factory share their perspectives on work, community, and survival in a country devastated by de-industrialization and outsourcing.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

The Unheard Voices Project

With These Hands: The Story of an American Furniture Factory Trailers

Cast

Himself

Clyde Hooker, Jr.

Himself

Paul Toms

Himself

Lane Nunley

Himself

William Stanley

Herself

Toni Jamieson

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is the striking new documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of “manufactured landscapes”—quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams—Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilization’s materials and debris.

0.0

The Cost of Cobalt

Mar 31, 2021

In the cobalt mining areas of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), babies are being born with horrific birth defects. Scientists and doctors are finding increasing evidence of environmental pollution from industrial mining which, they believe, may be the cause of a range of malformations from cleft palate to some so serious the baby is stillborn. More than 60% of the world’s reserves of cobalt are in the DRC and this mineral is essential for the production of electric car batteries, which may be the key to reducing carbon emissions and to slowing climate change. In The Cost of Cobalt we meet the doctors treating the children affected and the scientists who are measuring the pollution. Cobalt may be part of the global solution to climate change, but is it right that Congo’s next generation pay the price with their health? Many are hoping that the more the world understands their plight, the more pressure will be put on the industry here to clean up its act.

8.0

Himlens mörkrum

Oct 16, 2017

All people are beautiful when they work. Respectfully, Jean Hermanson photographed workers, mainly of the Swedish engineering and industrial divisions, and the images later became part of our modern cultural heritage.

6.0

All for the good of the World and Nosovice

Feb 17, 2011

An original portrayal of a small Czech village where – as the locals put it – an UFO has landed in the form of a kilometre-long silverish factory: a Korean Hyundai automobile plant. The village, hitherto famous mostly for its sauerkraut and the “Radegast” beer was thus turned into an industrial zone – the largest greenfield investment project in the Czech Republic’s history. Nonetheless, for a long time many farmers resisted selling the land upon which the factory was now standing. Eventually, they all succumbed under the pressure from the neighbours, and even the anonymous death threats. The filmmakers returned to Nošovice two years after the dramatic property buyouts, at the time when the factory has just started churning out cheap cars. Combining the perspectives of seven characters, they have composed a portrayal of a place suddenly changed beyond recognition that is playful and chilling at the same time: a politically engaged absurd flick about a field that yields cars.

8.0

Valley Town: A Study of Machines and Men

Aug 4, 1940

A documentary examining the effects of industrial automation on a small American town.

7.7

Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks

Sep 7, 2003

A detailed look at the gradual decline of Shenyang’s industrial Tiexi district, an area that was once a vibrant example of China’s socialist economy. But industry is changing, and the factories of Tiexi are closing. Director Wang Bing introduces us to some of the workers affected by the closures, and to their families.

6.6

END:CIV

Jan 1, 2011

The causes underlying the collapse of civilizations are usually traced to overuse of resources. As we write this, the world is reeling from economic chaos, peak oil, climate change, environmental degradation, and political turmoil. Every day, the headlines re-hash stories of scandal and betrayal of the public trust. We don't have to make outraged demands for the end of the current global system - it seems to be coming apart already. But acts of courage, compassion and altruism abound, even in the most damaged places. By documenting the resilience of the people hit hardest by war and repression, and the heroism of those coming forward to confront the crisis head-on, END:CIV illuminates a way out of this all-consuming madness and into a saner future. Backed by Jensen's narrative, the film calls on us to act as if we truly love this land. The film trips along at a brisk pace, using music... Written by Franklin Lopez

6.0

My Body

May 26, 2021

Oscar, not quite a child anymore, scavenges for scrap metal for his father. He spends his life in improvised landfills among what remains of leftovers. Worlds apart, yet close-by, there is Stanley. He tidies the church in exchange for a monetised hospitality, picks fruits, herds sheep: anything that keep his foreign body busy. Oscar, the young Sicilian, and Stanley the Nigerian don’t seem to have much in common. Except for the feeling of being thrown into the world, to suffer the same refusal, the same overwhelming wave of choices imposed on them by others.

8.1

Bathtubs Over Broadway

Apr 21, 2018

When he started as a comedy writer for the Late Show with David Letterman, Steve Young had few interests and not many friends outside of his day job. But while gathering material for a segment on the show, Steve stumbled onto a few vintage record albums that would change his life forever.

No Image Available

8.0

Hécuba: un sueño de pasión

Oct 27, 2006

What we tend to identify with the acting profession has little to do with what is really this profession. Thirty-six Spanish actors reflect on their work and contrasted their experiences. As thread, the contrast between the voices of veterans and images of young theater students , for whom everything is still possible. Among the many actors are interviewed Javier Bardem, Antonio Banderas, Victoria Abril, Carmen Maura, Fernando Fernán Gómez, José Luis López Vázquez, José Coronado, Emma Suarez, Alberto San Juan, Ariadna Gil, Ana Belén, Pilar Lopez de Ayala and many other.

0.0

Classic British Cars: Made in Coventry

May 17, 2021

Find out how the cars were crafted and discover the secret family stories behind the most famous marques including Riley, Standard, Triumph and Jaguar. Legendary racers Rosemary Smith, Pat Quinn and Norman Dewis share their memories of competing Coventry’s cars in some of the world’s most dangerous motorsport events. And, meet the people passionate about preserving the city’s extraordinary motoring heritage.

8.0

Baby Annette, à l'impossible ils sont tenus

Sep 1, 2021

In 2019, the director Leos Carax proposes to Estelle Charlier and Romuald Collinet to design, make and animate "Annette", the puppet of his new film. This one will be the child of the couple Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver. Propelled into the world of cinema, begins for this charismatic duo a unique and singular adventure in their career as puppeteers. Faced with the demands of the filmmaker, the impossible, they are held.

7.0

Rhapsody of Steel

Dec 4, 1959

Animated industrial movie about the steel industry.

0.0

All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic

Mar 1, 2018

In 1907, Belgian-born American chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland made one of the most transformative discoveries of the 20th century: Bakelite. It was the first wholly synthetic plastic and ushered in an explosion of new man-made materials that marked the beginnings of our modern industrial age.

7.8

Clean

Sep 15, 2022

When illness forces her away from her beloved trauma cleaning business, Sandra Pankhurst faces up to her traumatic past and begins a search for her birth mother.

7.2

The Happy Worker - Or How Work Was Sabotaged

May 4, 2022

Our premise is that work has become an act of self-sabotage. Empty corporate jargon, ever-changing management fashions and self-serving bureaucracy masquerading as efficiency hijacked the purpose of work. Creative documentary The Happy Worker will show how we got to this point and the very human behavior that led us here. We want to show how this unhealthy system is maintained and what keeps us from calling bullshit.

8.0

Les Couturiers de l'Église

Mar 15, 2016

No overview available.

0.0

Exergo

May 4, 2024

Departing from peripheral details of some paintings of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, a female narrator unravels several stories related to the economic, social and psychological conditions of past and current artists.

0.0

EL SITE

Apr 26, 2024

Isaac, a failed actor and Skies employee, shows us the daily life of workers in an average call center, facing the boredom to get to the end of the work day.

9.0

La saga du rail

Jun 1, 2020

No overview available.

With These Hands: The Story of an American Furniture Factory

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

With These Hands: The Story of an American Furniture Factory Trailers