Cinema Politica: The Hand That Feeds

Join us for a Cinema Politica Groningen documentary screening: The Hand That Feeds.

At a popular bakery café, residents of New York’s Upper East Side get bagels and coffee served with a smile 24 hours a day. But behind the scenes, undocumented immigrant workers face sub-legal wages, dangerous machinery, and abusive managers who will fire them for calling in sick. Mild-mannered sandwich maker Mahoma López has never been interested in politics, but in January 2012, he convinces a small group of his co-workers to fight back. Risking deportation and the loss of their livelihood, the workers team up with a diverse crew of innovative young organizers and take the unusual step of forming their own independent union, launching themselves on a journey that will test the limits of their resolve. In one roller-coaster year, they must overcome a shocking betrayal and a two-month lockout. Lawyers will battle in back rooms, Occupy Wall Street protesters will take over the restaurant, and a picket line will divide the neighborhood. If they can win a contract, it will set a historic precedent for low-wage workers across the country. But whatever happens, Mahoma and his coworkers will never be exploited again.

About Cinema Politica:
Cinema Politica is a non-profit media arts organization dedicated to supporting the work of independent, political filmmakers. CP is headquartered in Canada with local chapters that organise screenings all around the world. The Faculty of Arts is proud to host the Cinema Politica Groningen chapter.

Cinema Politica offers films on a wide variety of themes: Human rights, politics, globalisation, art, activism, refugee/migrants, war/conflict, social movements and many more.

Here at the Faculty of Arts, we will choose titles that have a relation to the research being done at our faculty in particular. All of the documentaries are in English or include English subtitles. Our screenings are free and open to all. After each film, we host a lively discussion with experts from the Faculty of Arts and beyond, followed by Q&A for audience questions.

Stay updated on upcoming screenings by following us on Instagram: @cpgroningen.

The Cinema Politica series is made possible by the Public Events Programme from the Faculty of Arts. For this particular screening we teamed up with the Groninger Studentenbond.

Interested in teaming up with one of our next political documentary screenings? We love to collaborate with experts and community members from the area. Send an email to: cinemapolitica@rug.nl