Brett Story

In 2022, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, sick and tired of the lack of job stability from a company notorious for constant worker turnover, made national headlines after the newly formed Amazon Labor Union voted to unionize. For their absorbing documentary, Brett Story (The Hottest August) and Stephen Maing (Crime + Punishment) follow the day-to-day struggles of the ALU, made up of current and former employees, including charismatic and indefatigable leader Chris Smalls, and capture the events that led to this remarkable—but by no means conclusive—historical moment. The result is an immersive portrait that celebrates solidarity while acknowledging the difficult decisions and internal conflicts that make any collective action possible—especially when up against a corporate goliath in a post-Reagan era when worker organizations have become political anathema.Read More »

A complex portrait of a city and its inhabitants, THE HOTTEST AUGUST gives us a window into the collective consciousness of the present. The film’s point of departure is one city over one month: New York City, including its outer boroughs, during August 2017. It’s a month heavy with the tension of a new President, growing anxiety over everything from rising rents to marching white nationalists, and unrelenting news of either wildfires or hurricanes on every coast. The film pivots on the question of futurity: what does the future look like from where we are standing? And what if we are not all standing in the same place? THE HOTTEST AUGUST offers a mirror onto a society on the verge of catastrophe, registering the anxieties, distractions, and survival strategies that preoccupy ordinary lives.Read More »