Factory to the Workers follows the most senior members of the ITAS tool factory in Ivanec, Croatia. Founded in 1960 in what was then Yugoslavia, ITAS has a long and proud socialist tradition of working as a co-op where the workers on the factory floor democratically manage the company. At its peak during the 60s and 70s, the factory employed 900 workers. After the fall of the USSR, the end of the Eastern Block soon followed, precipitating the breakup of Yugoslavia.
During this time, the factory maintained its tradition until around 2005 when there was an attempt to privatize the factory. The workers occupied the factory in response, and the privatization attempt was defeated in a few months. This event makes ITAS especially special: The 2005 occupation was Europe's only successful worker-led factory takeover. With the 2020s looming, the tool factory faces new issues. Will they survive in the race to the bottom economy? Will a new generation’s desire to fill their bank accounts bankrupt this fascinating socialist experiment?
Those interested in alternative economic models will be fascinated by the issues faced by ITAS leadership, but there’s not a lot of other meaty content in this documentary. There is some extremely artistic documentation of detailed machining work and general labor at the factory. Fans of How It’s Made style programming will be enthralled by the craftsmen at work in Factory to the Workers. While the somber mood and almost dreamlike documentary style will lull some into dozing, others will be enrapt in the struggle between the old socialist workers and the young workers who, seeking higher pay, receive their free training through ITAS’s apprentice program and then leave for other jobs at privatized factories.
It’s very interesting to see the generational divide between the socialist elders and capitalist youth working in the factory. “We’re a nursery for other factories,” one worker complains, summing up the struggle they face in the modern economy. Highly Recommended.
What library shelves does this title belong on?
Factory to the Workers belongs on labor, industry, and economics documentary shelves in public or academic libraries.
What kind of film series could this documentary be used for?
Factory to the Workers would be an outstanding addition to any film series about economic alternatives to capitalist models.
In Croatia in 2005, a machine tools factory was occupied by its workers. Since then, they have operated collectively, becoming the only successful example of a worker occupation in post-socialist Europe. Today, as they seek a new model of collective ownership, the internal workings of the factory clashes with the forces of the globalized market economy, having an increasingly brutal impact on wages and the organization of the factory. A decade later, can the slogan “Factory to the Workers” be kept alive, or is it just a utopian dream?
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THE FILMMAKER
Born in Zagreb, Yugoslavia in 1982. Received MA degree in cinematography on Academy of Dramatic Arts, University of Zagreb in 2009. From year 2000 was working as cameraman for various independent regional film and tv productions (Fade-in, Pro.ba, Drugi Plan, Factum, Restart, etc.) shooting documentary films, TV-series, reportage and short films. As cinematographer and cameraman, made several documentary films such as Naked directed by Tiha Klara Gudac, Days of Madness directed by Damian Nenadić, Kinofil directed by Damir Janeček, Place of Memory: Vukovar directed by Veljko Bulajić, Nobody's directed by Jadran Boban, etc. Lives and works in Zagreb, Croatia.
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FACTORY TO THE WORKERS
Catalog # EPF16050 ● ISBN: 978-1-933724-90-4 ● UPC: 6-82086-16050-4 ● NTSC
106 Minutes ● Copyright 2021 ● Croatian, English Subtitles
Click here to buy DVD: $29.95
Click here to buy DVD w/ Public Performance Rights: $250
Click here to buy DSL and DVD w/ Public Performance Rights: $375
For purchase orders, to book screenings and for other inquiries, please contact:
Larry Rattner - larry@epfmedia.com