PRESS RELEASE
June 24, 2009
|
|
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Dawn Mikkelson
Emergence Pictures
dawn@emergencepictures.com
+01 651-503-0274
|
|
|
Making the Global Economy Personal:
International Premiere of The Red Tail at
21st Galway Film Fleadh
|
(United States)- It all started in the fall of 2005, when the Northwest Airlines (NWA) mechanics, custodians and cleaners went on strike. This spring, the story of one union airline mechanic who followed his job to China hits the big screen for its International Premiere at the 21st Galway Film Fleadh.
"We are thrilled to share this film with an international audience in Galway as our first screening outside the United States," says Melissa Koch, one of The Red Tail's Directors (Koch partnered with Director Dawn Mikkelson on this film).
According to Felim MacDermott, Festival Programmer for Galway Film Fleadh, "These are the days that a programmer is besieged by documentaries that explain the financial crisis that our world has found itself in. Your documentary [The Red Tail] managed to illustrate the effect greed has against communities, families and a man's dignity in such a wonderful manner, congratulations."
The film follows Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) member Roy Koch (Melissa's father) from
his days as a striking NWA aircraft mechanic to his new role as a traveling
detective who investigates where his job went. "The film follows the Koch family, who refuse to be silent pawns in the chess game of corporate globalization. The Kochs want
to have a say in their own future and the future of the global working
class," says Mikkelson. "The Red Tail" looks at our broken economic system, and how it encourages and rewards CEOs and upper management to line their own pockets instead of caring for the heart of a company: its long-term stability and life-long employees. It also shows the common struggles that workers experience worldwide and the endless nature of outsourcing.
As the former international airline, Northwest Airlines, disappears in its merger with Delta and crew begin wearing the new Delta uniform, the stories of the lives left behind still linger. "The Red Tail will make sure that the stories and legacy of the workers are not forgotten," says Director Dawn Mikkelson. This story is presented in the documentary, "The Red Tail." Emerging filmmaker Melissa Koch and award-winning filmmaker Dawn Mikkelson followed the airline mechanics from the picket line to the bread line as they lost their jobs to outsourcing. Notably, Koch and Mikkelson received unprecedented access in Hong Kong and Xiamen, China, two of the cities NWA mechanic jobs were outsourced to.
Koch says, "The Red Tail asks the question that millions of workers have been asking, 'What can the average person do in the face of globalization and outsourcing?'
Attending Screening, Q&A, AND Available for Press Interview:
- Dawn Mikkelson, Director/Producer
- Melissa Koch, Director/Producer/Roy's Daughter
Event details:
What: International Premiere of The Red Tail at the Galway Film Fleadh
When: Saturday 11 July 2009 @ 5pm
Where: Town Hall Theatre, Galway, Ireland
Directors will also participate in Directors in Dialogue:
International
Documentary Special
Galway Film Fair, Sunday 12 July in Town Hall Small @ 14:30
"A dialogue event with some of
the best documentary-makers
in contemporary World Cinema
including: Sandy Cioffi Sweet Crude,
Samantha Buck 21 Below, Dawn
Mikkelson and Melissa Koch The
Red Tail and RJ Cutler The September
Issue"
|
|
The Red Tail (Synopsis):
On 19 August 2005 Roy Koch, along with
4,400 airline mechanics, custodians, and
cleaners, went on strike against Northwest
Airlines, the fourth largest airline in the
world. Northwest, otherwise known as
"The Red Tail" by its employees, wanted to
lay off 53% of their union and outsource
their jobs. What followed was a 444-day
strike that would end with 4,000 union
members out of work, including Roy.
Instead of being left in the wake of
this battle, Roy and his daughter Melissa
(director of The Red Tail) set on a journey
to meet the worker to whom Roy's job was
outsourced in China. The journey provides
a renewed sense of purpose for Roy, and
while Melissa wants to get answers to his
plight, her determination as a filmmaker is
always tempered by her love as a daughter. The film interweaves Roy and Melissa's
search for connection in China with the
premeditated downfall of Northwest
Airlines. This downfall serves a vibrant
example of the dangers of our current
economic system, and casts a spotlight on
the future of the working class.
Director Bios
Dawn Mikkelson (Producer/Director/Writer): Mikkelson is both an award-winning media producer and documentary filmmaker. From National PBS broadcasts to being selected as a Featured Video Podcast by iTunes, Mikkelson's work in film and video has received international acclaim across broad delivery platforms. Mikkelson has completed three award-winning feature documentaries prior to The Red Tail. Her second film, THIS obedience, won numerous festival awards and was distributed for national PBS broadcast by American Public Television. Mikkelson's third documentary, Green Green Water (www.greengreenwater.com) is currently touring festivals and conferences around the world and has broadcast on PBS affiliates and Free Speech TV. A former television news reporter at an ABC affiliate, and current adjunct faculty at Ottawa University teaching "Filmmaking for Social Change", Mikkelson has spoken at numerous festival panels on documentary filmmaking, GLBT and environmental issues, as well as speaking at colleges and universities across the country.
Melissa Koch (Producer/Director/Writer):
Koch is an emerging filmmaker introducing her feature-length documentary debut, "The Red Tail." She is a multi-disciplinary media-artist who has directed narrative short films and has worked in documentary video, photography, and radio. Koch studied cultural theory, media arts, and social change at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and the University of Tasmania, Australia. She has worked with community organizations for ten years primarily focusing on work with youth, LGBTQ communities, and the arts. In addition to working as a free-lance video producer, Koch currently serves as the Community Programs Director for In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre.
|
|
|
|
|
