The Dayton premiere of “9 To 5 - The Story of a Movement" is happening on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. at Dixie Twin Drive-In, located at 6201 N. Dixie Drive in Dayton. Tickets are on sale now for $25 a car and are expected to sell-out, so people are encouraged to buy tickets as soon as possible at https://planned2give.networkforgood.com/. Proceeds will benefit FilmDayton.
Due to COVID-19 forcing the cancellation of most in-person events this year, the film did not get to premiere as planned at the South by Southwest festival in Texas in March. Instead, it premiered at another, remote film festival and was received — as the duo’s masterpieces always are — with admiration.
The film, a full-length documentary, is about the fight for women’s equality in the U.S. workplace.
“It’s surprisingly funny,” said Lela Klein, FilmDayton trustee member and daughter of Julia Reichert, “(and) it’s been getting great reviews. ... The audience that has gotten to see it has loved it."
“In the early 1970s, a group of secretaries in Boston decided that they had suffered in silence long enough,” wrote FilmDayton on its event page. "They started fighting back, creating a movement to force changes in their workplaces. This movement became national, and is a largely forgotten story of U.S. twentieth-century history. It encapsulates a unique intersection of the women’s movement with the labor movement. The awareness these secretaries brought to bear on women’s work reverberates even today.”
With the death of Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was an advocate for women’s rights in the workplace, the documentary is extremely timely, Klein added.
Though different in many ways, Klein said their latest film works in conversation with “American Factory.”
“I think they’re really proud, and I think in some ways, last year my mom had a retrospective of 50 years of her work, 50 years in documentaries,” Klein said. “She’s really one of the leading women in the field, if not leading people in the field. I think this film is really true to her career and her work.”
The Oct. 22 showing is a one-time screening of the film, however, FilmDayton expects more Dayton showings to come in the future.
“It should be a very fun night, and the women of 9 To 5 bring inspiration everywhere they go,” Bognar said. “We are also proud that the film features the hard work of a good number of graduates from the excellent Wright State University motion pictures program.”
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