Film of the day: Factory to the workers

“Factory to the Workers” is a documentary film telling the resistance of workers in Croatia.

Factory to the Workers (Tvornice Radnicima) directed by Srđan Kovačević has been awarded Best Documentary Film at the 33rd Trieste Film Festival held between January 21st and 30th, 2022. It tells the struggle of workers in Croatia. In 2005, a machine tools factory was occupied by its workers against the capitalist economic model. Since then, they have operated collectively, becoming the only successful example of a worker occupation in post-socialist Europe. 

But as the director said in an interview, the situation was much more complicated. After the dismantlement of Yugoslavia, the workers of the ITAS factory producing metal machine parts successfully occupied the building to resist a suspect privatization scheme. After the occupation, the workers had hard times against the brutal market to not lose their spirit of solidarity. But they have managed to operate it collectively. Their struggle becomes the only successful example of a worker occupation in post-socialist Europe.