Streaming with closed captions
With access to a smartphone or laptop, the means of making a living has transformed over the past decade. Through digital platforms like Uber and Amazon an entire workforce was lured into a lucrative gig economy with the promise of flexible hours, no offices and being your own boss. But those workers had their dreams become nightmares, taken advantage of by billion-dollar enterprises designed to evade labour laws and policymakers. From food delivery to filling out surveys, self-employment exploitation is a global phenomenon driven by disruptive technologies. Director Shannon Walsh captures the zeitgeist by following workers in Nigeria, Florida, France and California, where their firsthand accounts poignantly reveal the true cost of their survival in a system that treats them as invisible and disposable. With millions of drivers and turkers mobilizing their efforts to hold a mirror to late-stage capitalism, it's clear that changes to how we work have only just begun. Alexander Rogalski
On May 3, at 7:30 p.m. ET, join The Gig Is Up team for a live live Q&A on Zoom.
Curious Minds at Hot Docs Festival // Unpacking the Gig Economy
Jennifer Scott (Gig Workers United) and Sara Mojtehedzadeh (Toronto Star) explore the prevalence, as well as the merits and ramifications, of gig work in this disucssion moderated by Ausma Malik (Atkinson Foundation, Just Work It podcast).
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MEDIA COVERAGE
- NOW Magazine - "As films about gig work screen at Hot Docs, a new coalition wants to change the public narrative around ride-hailing and delivery apps"
- Variety - "Spry, engaging doc"
- The Hollywood Reporter - "Gut punch of a film...eye-opening"
- La Estatuilla - "Informative, accessible and empathetic documentary"