''Bread and Roses'' is a 2000 film directed by

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...

, starring Pilar Padilla,

Adrien Brody Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Polish pianist Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's war drama '' The Pianist'' (2002) becoming the youngest acto ...

and

Elpidia Carrillo Elpidia Carrillo (born August 16, 1961) is a Mexican actress and director. Her career includes roles in both film and television. Internationally she is best known for supporting roles in ''Predator'', '' Bread and Roses,'' '' Nine Lives'' and ' ...

. The plot deals with the struggle of poorly paid janitorial workers in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and their fight for better working conditions and the right to

unionize Unionization is the creation and growth of modern trade unions. Trade unions were often seen as a left-wing, socialist concept, whose popularity has increased during the 19th century when a rise in industrial capitalism saw a decrease in motives ...

. It is based on the " Justice for Janitors" campaign of the

Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing 2 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of m ...

(SEIU), and the lead union organizer, Sam Shapiro, is based on SEIU organizer Jono Shaffer. The film is critical of inequalities in the United States.

Health insurance Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...

in particular is highlighted and it is also stated in the film that the pay of cleaners and other low paying jobs has declined in recent years. The film's name, " Bread and Roses", derives from the 1912 textile strike in Lawrence,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. Though the phrase comes from a 1911 poem by James Oppenheim (which was, in turn, based on a speech given by Rose Schneiderman), it is commonly associated with the Lawrence strike, which united dozens of immigrant communities, led to a large extent by women, under the leadership of the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

Plot

Maya, a recently arrived illegal immigrant in Los Angeles, is eager to build a new life away from her old one, where she briefly worked in a bar. She desires to work in a high-rise building as a janitor alongside her sister Rosa. Once employed, Maya discovers the stark disparity in wages and working conditions that the janitors, many of them immigrants, face daily. Soon after starting her job, Maya encounters Sam, a janitor's union organizer. Sam's mission is to sign up workers in the building for the union, hoping to address their grievances. Maya is receptive to Sam's cause, seeing an opportunity for better wages and conditions. However, her sister Rosa is skeptical, fearful of losing their jobs amidst the push for unionization. They stage a protest at a house-warming party for a prominent Hollywood agency located in the same building they clean. The janitors' plight becomes a point of contention within the building and draws attention to the exploitation many of them face.

Cast

;Uncredited party guests

Production

The following companies produced the film: *British Screen *

BSkyB Sky UK Limited (formerly British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB)), trading as Sky, is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, broadband internet, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers ...

*Cineart *Filmcooperative Zürich *Parallax Pictures *BiM Distribution *Alta Films *

BAC Films BAC Films is a French film production and distribution company. Based in Paris, the company was founded in 1986 by Jean Labadie, Éric Heumann, and Stéphane Sorlat. Capital shares of the company were re-allocated in 1988 when Vivendi took 10% ...

*Road Movies Filmproduktion *Tornasol Films

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

(Golden Palm) at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival and won the Jury Award at the Temecula Valley International Film Festival in 2000. In 2001, it was nominated for the Artios award of the Casting Society of America, for the

British Independent Film Awards The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports, and promotes British independent cinema and film-making talent in the United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early Nov ...

for Best British Independent Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay, and won the Phoenix Prize at the

Santa Barbara International Film Festival The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is an eleven-day film festival held in Santa Barbara, California in February annually, since 1986. The festival screens over 200 feature films and shorts from different countries and regions. ...

. In 2002, it was nominated for four

ALMA Awards The American Latino Media Arts Award or ALMA Award, formerly known as Latin Oscars Award, is an award highlighting the best American Latino contributions to music, television, and film. The awards promote fair and accurate portrayals of Latino ...

, of which it won the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Elpidia Carrillo) and also won the Imagen Award for Best Theatrical Feature Film of the Imagen Foundation Awards.

References

External links

The Bread-and-Roses-strike
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bread And Roses (Film) 2000 films 2000 drama films African-American drama films British drama films 2000s English-language films Films scored by George Fenton Films about the labor movement Films about social realism Drama films based on actual events Films directed by Ken Loach Films set in Los Angeles Films set in Mexico Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in San Diego Films about labor relations Films about illegal immigration to the United States German drama films English-language German films British independent films Spanish drama films English-language Spanish films 2000s Spanish-language films Swiss drama films English-language Swiss films 2000 independent films German independent films Spanish independent films 2000s American films 2000s British films 2000s German films English-language independent films Films with screenplays by Paul Laverty