We Are Wisconsin Screening Kicks Off Workers Unite Film Fest

The Worker Institute invites you to a special screening of this acclaimed documentary as part of the Workers Unite Film Festival

Date: May 18, 2015
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:30pm
Location: ILR Conference Center, 6th Fl
16 E. 34th Street, New York, NY 10016

When a Republican Governor's bill threatens to wipe away worker rights and lock out public debate, six (extra)ordinary citizens force their way into the Wisconsin State Capitol, joining thousands of protesters who spend the next twenty-six days launching a popular uprising that not only challenges the bill, but the soul of a nation.

WE ARE WISCONSIN (77 min, 2012) is a feature documentary film that follows the day-to-day unfolding of public outcry against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s controversial budget-repair bill, focusing on the human story behind a remarkable popular uprising forged on the floor of the Madison Capitol. The film asks the question “Why should we care about what’s going on in Wisconsin?” on multiple levels, through an in-depth profile of six leading individuals central to the story: a UW- Madison student leader, a state-employee social worker, a nurse, a high school teacher, a police officer and an unemployed electrician who come out to protest what they saw as a direct attack on their livelihood. They all meet inside the capitol over the course of what became an historic twenty-six days, February-March, 2011.

The film also amplifies why Wisconsin has become ground zero for so many disparate groups, awakening a sleeping giant of collective voices, alarmed and angry at the new Corporate-funded, hyper-conservative wave of local government sweeping the country. The Wisconsin spirit of peaceful resistance spread powerfully in waves from the Capitol Rotunda to the streets outside and beyond, winning hearts and minds and sparking what is now known as the Occupy Movement, led by the 99%.

You can stream the film here.