Films, exhibitions in Beirut depict labor workers lives

CAIRO - 13 July 2017: Beirut Art Center will be hosting a film program comprising of film screenings and exhibition about the works of Allan Sekula titled “Photography at Work”; both the screenings and the exhibition will run from July 12 to August 2 at the center’s auditorium.

American photographer/filmmaker Sekula has worked in showing economic aspects of a society including global commodity exchange; he thought of photography as a platform that encourages social engagement and calls for action, according to a released statement by the Beirut Arts Center.

The program will display the lives of labor workers and their rights and showcase global industries. Among the films that will be screened by Sekula include Reagan Tape (1981) which is a 10-minute film produced about a collaboration between Sekula and filmmaker Noël Burch.

The joint production was formulated in the early days of Ronald Reagan in office, using footage from the president’s first state of the union speech which revolved around an economic program known as ‘Reaganonomics.’ The film depicts protests during the time as well.

Another film is Tsukiji (2001), a 43-minute film that depicts that human labor conducted in the lengthy process of killing and clean up session held in carcasses of frozen tuna.

Short film for Laos (2006) is another 45-minutes film that will be screened showcasing the truth behind the Indochina war that occurred thirty years ago, exposing the secret American campaign called that according to Sekula. He described that his work was meant to explore “the most bombed country on earth; therefore a laboratory of imperial strategies are both criminal and ineffective.” Sekula has visited the site to be able to retell the story of the war.