Program 10: 'Harvest of Light' and 'The Pickers' - Migrant Workers

HARVEST OF LIGHT portrays the lives of seasonal workers in Ankara's Evren district. Coming to the capital for the onion harvest, these families grapple with challenges illuminated by a metaphorical beacon of hope, an operating generator for just 2 hours daily. In this brief period, amid labor's chaos, the workers share their stories, symbolizing the never-ending hopes for a better life. The film intertwines diverse narratives, emphasizing labor rights, child labor, women's empowerment, and the universal right to education. (52m, 2024, Turkey, Director: Esin Özalp Öztürk)

THE PICKERS - We want cheap fruit and vegetables all year. No problem. The Pickers deliver, but they are paying the price for us: Exploited migrants harvest our oranges, strawberries, olives, blueberries and other fruit and vegetables in Greece, Spain, Italy or Portugal. This is not “somewhere else”. This is Europe. These pickers are the mobile workforce that fills our supermarkets’ baskets, most of them without contracts or minimum wages, some without papers or with high debts to agents. But it doesn't have to be this way. (52m, 2024, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Spain, Director: Elke Sasse)

Host or Publisher Workers Unite Film Festival, Inc.