Calgary Cinematheque is thrilled to continue our Virtual Screening series with Bill Duke’s criminally underrated historical drama, The Killing Floor (1984). 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 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.
The Killing Floor is available to stream until Friday, August 21st at 12am MST. Tickets are $13.60 (converted from $10 USD) and viewers will have 3 days to watch the film from date of purchase. Click the button below to purchase tickets. To confirm that your browser is compatible with Film Movement’s streaming service, click here.
Special Features
Introduction by Kevin Dong
24 Days In Brooks (2007)
For a glimpse into Alberta’s recent history of labour strikes (and a striking double feature), our Programming Coordinator Kevin Dong recommends Dana Inkster’s documentary 24 Days in Brooks (2007), available for free on the NFB’s website.
Over the course of a decade Brooks, Alberta, transformed from a socially conservative, primarily white town to one of the most diverse places in Canada as immigrants and refugees flocked to find jobs at the Lakeside Packers slaughterhouse. This film is a portrait of those people working together and adapting to change through the first-ever strike at Lakeside.