Today I watched the fully-processed hi-def master of Workers' Republic for the last time. Well, not the last time ever, but the final instance in the creation process. I had to make one final quality control pass. I then set the DVD encode to go. Yes, the project is finally complete.

Before it was officially finished, Workers' Republic played at the 32nd annual Big Muddy Film Festival in Carbondale, Illinois. On Feb 28, the film was awarded the John Michaels Human Rights Film Award. This annual prize from the Big Muddy fest honors films that make an important statement on political or environmental issues. I was humbled and honored to receive this laurel.

But that's all there is to tell. Frustratingly, after nearly 20 festival submissions and a lot of money spent, Big Muddy was the only accepting body. I'm still waiting to hear on a few. I think I may have failed to realize the strength of this film inside its target niche, which is organized labor and the organized left, and it's merely average appeal to those outside that niche.

So, I'm taking this distribution idea back to formula. On Friday, April 23rd, the Labor Notes conference (http://labornotes.org) will show Workers' Republic at 5 p.m. eastern time, at the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn, Michigan. Labor Notes is a gathering of union and left-wing organizers where they participate in workshops for changing the world, and the occasional rousing old tune from the Little Red Song Book. Yeah, I think my film might do OK there. :-)

Check back here as we revamp this website to give fans more breaking news about the status of distribution for Workers' Republic. DVDs will be forthcoming to all whom I promised!

Andrew Friend