With her two documentaries about the American labor movement, 1976’s Harlan County, U.S.A. and 1990’s American Dream, Barbara Kopple gave us a pair of films by turns inspiring and devastating, brutally revealing about the state of American capitalism. These films, which take us deep inside the struggles of a pair of labor strikes not only remain electrifying cinema, but together represent the heartbreaking downward trajectory of organized labor’s influence in the United States, moving us from the pyrrhic victory of the striking miners in Harlan County, U.S.A. to the utter defeat of the Hormel plant workers in American Dream.
A new 4K restoration of American Dream, which won the 1991 Academy Award for documentary feature, will premiere on May 1 at the IFC Center, and in conjunction with screenings of Harlan County, U.S.A., which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Today, Janus Films has released the trailer for the new 4K restoration of American Dream.
Watch the trailer below:
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