Kopple's 'Union Town' Premieres at Camden After Venice — SkimNews
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- Barbara Kopple's documentary "Union Town" held its U.S. premiere at the Camden International Film Festival in Maine after bowing at the Venice Film Festival earlier in September, with Autlook handling worldwide sales
- The film follows three NYC labor fronts — UPS, Amazon, and "deliveristas" — and documents the death of 24-year-old pharmacy delivery worker Victor Hidalgo, killed by an FDNY vehicle in 2024
- Kopple is a two-time Academy Award winner for labor documentaries: "Harlan County U.S.A." (1976) about a Kentucky coal mine strike and "American Dream" (1991) about a Hormel Foods strike in Minnesota
- DoorDash reached a nearly $17 million settlement in New York in 2025 after being accused of keeping tips meant for delivery workers, per the New York Attorney General's office
- The film features Antonio Rosario, a veteran of a 1997 UPS strike who now serves as the Teamsters lead union organizer for Amazon workers in the northeast
- Kopple notes union participation in America has dropped by about half in the past four decades, but says "they're still there" — framing the film around continued organizing at major employers
Why it matters: Kopple's return to labor documentary filmmaking 50 years after her first Oscar lands as union participation has halved in four decades, yet organizing is visibly hitting major employers like UPS and Amazon. The Hidalgo death — and Kopple's recounting of his aunt's plea that "no one forget Victor" — makes the human cost of gig-work conditions a central subject, not a backdrop.
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