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A network dedicated to building a culture of human rights

Films – Freedom of Association

Harlan County, USA
Director: Barbara Kopple, 1976
Academy Award-winning documentary of the struggle between striking unionized coal miners and their employer. Emphasizes the right of workers to organize labor unions and the violence resistance they encounter.
Time: 103 minutes
Grade Level: high school – adult
Subject Area: social studies


On the Waterfront
Director: Elia Kazan, 1954
Academy Award-winning film starring Marlon Brandon and Karl Maldon about organized crime’s penetration of a longshoreman’s union in New York during the 1950s. Several men break the community’s code of silence to stand up to the gangsters and expose the murder of a friend. Provides an introduction to the right to form trade unions, the problems of corruption in unions, and the need for courageous individuals to stand up to corrupt union bosses. (Movie background, discussion questions, assignments and other resources for student, parents, and teachers are included).

Time: 108 minutes
Grade Level: high school – adult
Subject Area: social studies

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The core values of HRE USA and its partner organizations include transparency and critical thinking skills. We believe that human rights--and human rights education--belong to everyone, and that the full realization of human rights means that access to human rights education materials must never be conditioned upon the subscription to any particular religious faith, ideology, political affiliation, or membership in any particular organization and that any organizational connections should be openly acknowledged.