Videos
"Occupy Bakery" New York Times Op-Doc
This seven minute short film, adapted from the feature documentary for a Times editorial series on immigration, has been screened by The White House Office of Public Engagement, The National Council for Occupation Safety and Health and other groups around the country.
The Hand That Feeds trailer
Shy sandwich-maker Mahoma López sets out to end abusive conditions at a popular New York restaurant chain. The epic power struggle that ensues turns a single city block into a battlefield in America's new wage wars.
Photos
Poster
Official one-sheet for The Hand That Feeds. Design by Partner & Partners.
August 31, 2012
Hot & Crusty pizza maker Nazario G. salutes the occupation of his workplace. Photo credit: Eleazar Castillo
August 31, 2012
Dishwasher Margarito López shares his thoughts with director Robin Blotnick, moments before occupying his workplace with a group of activist supporters. Photo credit: Jed Brandt.
August 31, 2012
Sandwich maker Mahoma López and cashier Diana O. confront their manager on the day of their store's closing. Photo credit: Jed Brandt.
8.31.2012
Hot & Crusty workers Margarito López, Mahoma López and Maurilio O. stage a sit-down in their shop on the day of its closing. Photo credit: Jed Brandt.
8.31.2012 "24 hour picket!"
As the NYPD breaks up the occupation, Laundry Worker Centers' Nastaran Mohit calls for a new strategy. Photo Credit: Jed Brandt.
September 3, 2012
Pizza maker Felicito Tapia displays a visual argument for organizing on the Hot & Crusty picket line. Photo Credit: Jed Brandt.
September 3, 2012
"Hasta la victoria siempre!" Workers and supporters remain optimistic on the Hot & Crusty picket line. Photo Credit: Jed Brandt.
September 8, 2012
Directors Rachel Lears and Robin Blotnick on the picket line photo credit: Tami Gold
April 30, 2013
Directors Rachel Lears and Robin Blotnick pitch the film to a carefully assembled table of NGOs, funders and broadcasters at Good Pitch NY. Photo Credit: Lauren Colchamiro (friendswithmachines.com)
April 30, 2013
Star Mahoma López surprises the audience at Good Pitch NY. Photo Credit: Lauren Colchamiro (friendswithmachines.com)
September 3, 2013
Director Rachel Lears gets a pick-up establishing shot in the Bronx.
April 4, 2014
Mahoma López kicks off the film's premiere at Full Frame by joining a fast food action in Durham, North Carolina.
April 4, 2014
Mahoma marching in a fast food action in Durham, NC.
April 5, 2014
Directors Rachel Lears and Robin Blotnick with star Mahoma López at the world premiere, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina.
April 5, 2014
The crowd goes wild at Full Frame, where the film was voted the audience favorite. Photo credit: Ursula Liang
April 5, 2014
Star Mahoma López poses with local immigrant rights activists at the Full Frame premiere. Photo credit: Ursula Liang
April 5, 2014
Star Mahoma López poses with local activists at the Full Frame premiere. Photo credit: Ursula Liang
April 5, 2014
Star Mahoma López and director Rachel Lears with Bacilio Castro, a North Carolina poultry processing worker-organizer, at the Full Frame premiere. Photo credit: Ursula Liang
June 20, 2014
Stars Ben Dictor and Mahoma López at the AFI DOCS screening. Courtesy of AFI / Jon Norris
June 20, 2014
Stars Mahoma and Elizabeth López and Ben Dictor join the directors onstage at at AFI DOCS.
August 2, 2014
Tired looking filmmakers at Traverse City Film Festival celebrate a day of screening the film in 3 states.
On Tour: Germantown, MD
Germantown, a sleepy DC suburb named for the German immigrants who once owned shops there, is now increasingly home to immigrants from Asia and Latin America. It reminded me a little of Los Angeles, in that extraordinarily delicious world cuisine can be found in the most ordinary-looking strip malls. Black Rock Center for the Arts […]
On Tour: Newport News, VA
Usually when you’re sharing a social issue documentary, most people only want to hear about the issues. So I was glad for the chance to talk filmmaking with a group of bright, engaged cinephiles at the Christopher Newport University film club. Despite the fact that the school doesn’t yet offer production classes (the film club […]
On Tour: Wilmington, DE
For my first stop on On Screen / In Person, I stayed with my grandparents, Ray and Arleen Higgins. Their pleasant home in leafy Newark, Delaware is a testament to what good jobs can get you. Ray worked most of his life as a high school teacher, in a good union. Arleen worked for Gore, […]
On Tour: West Long Branch, NJ
I arrived at Professor Marina Vujnovic’s Intro to Journalism class a few minutes early, and a few students had already gathered. Making conversation, I asked what they’ve been doing in the class so far. “Writing papers about you!” replied one young woman. (Uh oh—seriously?) When Marina arrived she clarified that they have reviewed the film’s […]
On Tour: Erie, PA
From the window of the tiny connector plane, Lake Erie stretches so wide behind the eponymous town, a mottled map of green farms and industrial infrastructure, that you can see the curvature of the earth in its glassy surface. This is only my second visit to the Great Lakes ever, after the Traverse City Film […]
Director’s Statement
(adapted from filmmakers’ New York Times op-ed) We’re making this film because it’s a classic underdog story and we’re inspired by the courage of our protagonists. We want to understand how ordinary people find such courage in themselves. We think this film has the potential to change the way Americans think about labor, immigration and […]
