Bread and Roses (2000 film)

Bread and Roses is a 2000 film directed by Ken Loach, starring Pilar Padilla, Adrien Brody and Elpidia Carrillo. The plot deals with the struggle of poorly paid janitorial workers in Los Angeles and their fight for better working conditions and the right to unionize. It is based on the "Justice for Janitors" campaign of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Contents

• Cast
• Production
• Awards and nominations
• References

The film is critical of inequalities in the United States. Health insurance 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. 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.

Cast

Pilar Padilla as Maya

Adrien Brody as Sam Shapiro

Elpidia Carrillo as Rosa

Jack McGee as Bert

Monica Rivas as Simona

Frank Davila as Luis

Lillian Hurst as Anna

Mayron Payes as Ben

Maria Orellana as Berta

Elena Antonenko as Maria

Olga Gorelik as Olga

George Lopez as Perez

Stone Cold Steve Austin as The Texas Rattlesnake

Uncredited party guests

Tim Roth

Ron Perlman

William Atherton

Vanessa Angel

Benicio del Toro

Oded Fehr

Chris Penn

Robin Tunney

Production

The following companies produced the film:

British Screen

BSkyB

Cineart

Filmcooperative Zürich

Parallax Pictures

BiM Distribution

Alta Films

Bac Films

Road Movies Filmproduktion

Tornasol Films

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or (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 for Best British Independent Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay, and won the Phoenix Prize at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

In 2002, it was nominated for four ALMA Awards, 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.