Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Mission Statement

The goal of this project is to open the minds and eyes of people to the relevance and dispartiy of realism that workers go through. This will be seen through the process of making this documentary and of course, in the finished piece as well. Strike on Congress will explain and demonstrate the process that many men and women face when their benefits are taken away from them; benefits that people in certain jobs have available to them no matter what. For those benefits to be taken away, how are people supposed to live? How are they suposed to support themselves? Will they ever be able to retire or will they have to work for the rest of their lives? What happens when they hurt themselves and they don't have health insurance and have to pay for health care themselves?

The economy seems to be getting worse and worse and it is getting harder and harder for people to find jobs just to survive. Our goal in making this documentary is to help these people get their benefits back so that they can live a happy life and not have to worry about what is going to happen tomorrow or the next day.

Strike On Congress

Documenting Social Injustice
Treatment

Title
Strike on Congress

Director
Raymond Smith

Running time
3-5 Minutes

Year of Completion
2010

Synopsis
Strike on Congress is a look at the men and women on the picket line in front of the Congress Plaza Hotel. Looking at an in depth and visual aspect of the truth behind the signs and the picket line. The documentary shows the grueling process of what these people have to go through every single day; the customers of the hotel walking right past them, the bell hops completely ignoring them and even the people who walk past the hotel every day and don't stop to see what's going on.

Summary
Strike on Congress will feature footage of the strike in progress, interviews with the strikers, people on the streets, the coordinator of the strike, and also the emotional journey that these people have gone through and continue to go through day after day.

This story isn't just going to be told through the eyes of the strikers, but through a student's account of walking past them every single day and finding out that nothing is getting better for them. A reoccurring theme of fighting for what these people believe in is amazing. They convey the patience that they have built up because they will not stop at anything.

Strike on Congress also addresses the concept of peace within a human. The amount of determination that these people have is so courageous and the people of Chicago shoudl see that and help them get what they want back. Strike on Congress will hopefully be an impetus for man and women to put forth the effort to do what is right for everyone working to survive out there in the real world where jobs are scarce and the ones that do exist take away the workers' benefits.