UAW Flick Comes to Capitol

It’s been a few years since the movie theaters at Union Station closed, leaving Capitol Hill bereft of places to catch a flick. And while Landmark Theatres or AMC might have no use for the area, you can still catch the occasional movie at venues on the Capitol campus.

Case in point: tonight’s screening of “Brothers On the Line,” a documentary about brothers Walter, Roy and Victor Reuther, who helped shape the United Auto Workers in the mid-20th century.

Rep. John Conyers is urging Members and staff to watch a
documentary on the United Auto Workers at the Rayburn House
Office Building tonight. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

The gentleman from Detroit, Rep. John Conyers (D), is encouraging Members and staff to attend the screening in the Rayburn House Office Building tonight. “‘Brothers On the Line’ weaves a dramatic tale of one family’s quest to compel American democracy to live up to its promise of equality, resulting in a timely blueprint of successful social action,” Conyers writes in his “Dear Colleague” invite.

In the movie, the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), among others, including Conyers, attests to the political influence of the Reuthers as well as the cultural ramifications of the labor movement in a time of social and economic upheaval.

The film by Sasha Reuther, the grandson of Victor, screened Tuesday evening at the Landmark E Street Cinema as part of Filmfest DC.

No word on whether the presumptive GOP presidential nominee and Detroit native Mitt Romney — whose father, George, ran American Motors Corp. during the time of the Reuthers’ stewardship of UAW — has been invited.

“It obviously takes a historical perspective, but considering the Occupy movement, the recall movement in Wisconsin — there’s rumblings, and this film really touches a chord,” Sasha Reuther tells HOH.

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