Here are two great documentaries about work in the age of what some, perhaps hopefully, call late capitalism. Lizzie Olesker and Lynne Sachs’ Washing Society is a creative, often lyrical study of laundromat service workers in NYC—women who do a hard job for far too little money. Sophie Bruneau’s haunting Dreaming Under Capitalism has its subjects recount their work-related dreams; we hear of waking anxieties turned into dark, often scary symbolism. Together, the films form a downbeat but soulful duet.
Dreaming Under Capitalism
Director: Sophie Bruneau / Belgium, 2017, 63 min.
Sophie Bruneau’s haunting Dreaming Under Capitalism has its subjects recount their work-related dreams; we hear of waking anxieties turned into dark, often scary symbolism.
The Washing Society
Director: Lizzie Olesker, Lynne Sachs / USA, 2018, 44 min.
Lizzie Olesker and Lynne Sachs’ The Washing Society is a creative, often lyrical study of laundromat service workers in NYC—women who do a hard job for far too little money.