Documentary: We Are All Workers
The city of Braddock
Braddock is a few miles from Pittsburgh in the Monongahela River valley. Andrew Carnegie built his first steel mill here and his first free library. The steel mill is still there, now run by U.S. Steel, but the workers moved to out to the suburbs. The city has gone from a population of 20,000 in the ’40s to less than 3,000 today. It’s full of empty buildings and lots — very post apocalyptic looking. If you saw the movie based on Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Road,” you saw Braddock. Parts of the movie was filmed there.
What is odd about this documentary series is it is being produced by Levi Strauss & Co, IFC, and The Sundance Channel. Levi’s has invested in Braddock’s community center, public library and urban farm. However Levi’s does not make anything in Braddock, most of their clothes are made overseas. The endeavor is part of the ad campaign by Wieden+Kennedy for Levi’s Work Wear Collection.
The films are well made so far. Having been in Braddock I would say they capture the true look and mood of the city. The interviews are with real people. So are these documentaries, PR or a strange hybrid? I’m still not sure what to think of them, but they are most definitely are worth a look.
We Are All Workers:
Trailer/ad by “The Road” director John Hillcoat
Episode 1: The Seeds of Change by Aaron Rose
Episode 2: The Mayor by Aaron Rose
Related:
Braddock (Braddocc) Website for the city of Braddock
New York Times: Rock Bottom for Decades, but Showing Signs of Life
Explore posts in the same categories: Advertising, Documentary, Storytelling, VideoTags: Documentary, Levi's, Pennsylvania
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July 21, 2010 at 10:50 am
isn’t that the truth! 🙂
Thanks
Moddish
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