punch in / out: iterations of labour is a season exploring how the world of work intersects with class, race and gender.

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For many of us, the experience of the past 18 months has profoundly changed the way we feel about work. Yet the dramatic personal, political and economic consequences of the pandemic did not come out of nowhere. As these films demonstrate, the roots of our current crises run deep.

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In punch in/out, we use shorts, features and archive to delve into key issues facing women in the workforce today. From a luxury hotel in Mexico City to a school canteen in Sheffield, a garment factory in Dhaka to a Manhattan gym, these films span geographies and histories but are connected by a shared fascination with the working lives of women. These filmmakers show us how a legacy of inequality shapes our present-day experiences of work, but they also offer glimpses of hope. Through small rebellions, large-scale collective action or just the simple act of telling their own stories, these women demonstrate how even in the face of cold hard capitalism, resistance is always possible. 

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Special thank you to STUC Women’s Committee who consulted and shaped this programme through sharing intimate testimony on the issues their current membership is facing.

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Thank you to Film Hub Scotland for supporting this project!

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All films in the programme have been subtitled and captioned by AB Silvera, Emilia Beatriz, Nicole O’Reilly and Sarya Wu. 

 

One programme will be released each week between 22 September – 13 October and available to watch on a sliding scale basis.

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