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“Dirty” Work

Work is often promoted as a way of fulfilling one’s purpose in life. But who are “dream jobs” really for? For many and the most vulnerable, work can be physically demanding, mind-numbing, and even dangerous. But many do it out of obligation to their loved ones or as a means of survival. This showcase bears witness to the complexities around the “dirty” work that’s rarely acknowledged, the people who do it, and the reasons why.

Program curated by Kacia Huynh and Ling Yue

LIVE Q&A on 11/08 at 8:30 P.M. EST

In this program


Today’s Special

Directed by John Hwang

After no one shows up to work, a Korean warehouse owner is forced to confront her fears in order to complete the day’s delivery.

sống ở đây | to live here

Directed by Melanie Dang Ho

Exploring the intimacy of the mundane, “sống ở đây” focuses on the lives of Vietnamese shrimpers and elderly farmers in New Orleans—and how reverberations of the past are present in day to day labor.

Basurero

Directed by Eileen Cabiling

Desperate for cash, a Filipino Fisherman dumps bodies into the ocean for the drug war’s faceless vigilantes. Tension rises when he discovers his neighbor has been murdered for selling shabu (crystal meth).

The Blue Bed

Directed by Alireza Kazemipour

Zahra is a middle-aged woman who uses a “temporary marriage” agency to hire a Negar, a younger woman. Negar begins to suspect Zahra’s intentions, but is she correct?