A documentary on the extremes to which workers will go to earn a living.


Workingman's Death is an unflinching portrait of the state of manual labor in the 21st century. In the Ukraine, a group of men spend long days crawling through cramped shafts of illegal coal mines. Sulfur gatherers in Indonesia brave the smoky heat of an active volcano and the treacherous trip back down. Blood, fire and stench are routine for workers at a crowded open-air slaughterhouse in Nigeria. Pakistani men use little more than their bare hands to dismantle an abandoned oil tanker for scrap metal. Steelworkers in China fear they could be a dying breed.
Today's manual laborers are no longer celebrated with hymns of praise. Workingman's Death provides a rare glimpse into the harsh treatment faced by manual laborers working half a world away.


Is heavy manual labor disappearing or is it just becoming invisible?
Where can we still find it in the 21st century?
Workingman's Death follows the trail of the HEROES in the illegal mines of the Ukraine, sniffs out GHOST among the sulfur workers in Indonesia, finds itself face to face with LIONS at a slaughterhouse in Nigeria, mingles with BROTHERS as they cut a huge oil tanker into pieces in Pakistan, and joins Chinese steel workers in hoping for a glorious FUTURE.

Meanwhile, the future is now in Germany, where a major smelting plant of bygone days has been converted into a bright and shiny leisure park.


Work can be many things. Often it is barely visible; sometimes,
difficult to explain;and in many cases, impossible to portray.
Hard manual labor is visible, explainable, portrayable.
This is why I often think of it as the only real work.
Michael Glawogger

Austria/Germany 2005 / 122 Min. / 35mm / 1:1,85 / color / DOLBY SRD-EX

Concept and Realization: Michael Glawogger

Writer/Director: Michael Glawogger
Producers: Pepe Danquart, Mirjam Quinte

Year: 2005
Duration: 122 Minutes
Category: Documentary
Original Language: English, German, Russian, Mandarin with English Subtitles
Closed Captioned/Descriptive Video: N/A
Aspect Ratio and Format: SD 16:9

Country of Origin: Austria
Countries: Austria, Germany

Produced by: Lotus Film GmbH/Vienna and Quinte Film/Freiburg
with arte G.E.I.E.


Buch Regie / Written and Directed by
MICHAEL GLAWOGGER

Kamera und Licht / Director of Photography
WOLFGANG THALER

2nd Unit & Kameraassistenz / 2nd Unit and Assistant Camera
ATTILA BOA

Steadicam Indonesien / Steadicam Operator Indonesia
TILMAN BÜTTNER

Originalton/ Sound Engineers
PAUL OBERLE
EKKEHART BAUMUNG

Bildschnitt/ Editors
MONA WILLI
ILSE BUCHELT

Schnittkoordinationz/ Assistent editor
ALARICH LENZ

Künstlerische Mitarbeit /Creative Consultant
PEPE DANQUART

Produktionsleitung /Line Producer
PEPO WIRTHENSOHN


H E R O E S
Minenarbeiter Coal / Mine workers
WLADIMIR PETROWITSCH LIMAREW
TATIANA IWANOWNA LIMAREWA
VIKTOR IWANOWITSCH SWIRIDOW
LEONID JUREWITSCH JUSCHTSCHENKO
SWIRIDOW LEONID
WASSILI ALEXANDROWITSCH BONDARENKO

Die drei Frauen / Three women
ELENA NIKOLAJEWNA GOWORUNOWA
LUCIA VDOWENA
LARISSA ALEXANDROWNA ISAJEWA

Das Hochzeitspaar / The couple
LUDMILLA ANATOLJEWNA ANDRIONOWA
KONSTANTIN VALENTINOWITSCH ANDRIONOW


T E A M U K R A I N E

Regieassistenz / Assistant Director
MARTINA STENECH

Produktionsabwicklung/Production Coordinator
GLEB MALEJEW

Fotograf /Photographer
VIKTOR MARUSCHTSCHENKO

Uebersetzer /Translator
SERGEJ SERGIENKO

G H O S T S

Schwefelträger/Sulfur gatherers
HARTONO
PAK JO
PAK AGUS WISNAWAN
BAINI
SAHAWI
u.v.a. / and many more


T E A M J A V A

Regieassistenz/Assistant Director
L.M. ARYA WANGSA

Produktionsabwicklung/Production Coordinator
I MADE SADIATHI SANGKA

Fotograf/ Photographer
MOHAMAD IQBAL / IQBAL FOTOGRAFI

Abwicklung/ Service Production
CANDUNG CORP.

L I O N S
Mallam/ Mallam
ISIAKA MOHAMMED

Mallam Ali/Mallam Ali
ALI MOHAMMED aka MALLAM ALI

Röstmeister, Arbeiter und Träger /Slaughterhouse workers
BUNMI ONOKOYA
FRIDAY CLEMENT
FRIDAY JONAH aka AFRICA
u.v.a. / and many more

T E A M N I G E R I A

Regieassistenz/Assistant Director
DR. EMMANUEL OGA

Produktionsabwicklung/Production Coordinator
JOE ZULU ADIGWE

Fotograf/Photographer
UCHECHUKWA JAMES-IROHA

National Film Institute /National Film Institute
ERNESTO O. ODEGA

Abwicklung/Service Production
AJAY CORP.


B R O T H E R S

Werftarbeiter/Ship-breakers
KHAISTA BAR KHAN
TAJ KHAN, HABIB-UR-REHMAN
MOHAMMAD SHAFIQ, DASTAGIR
u.v.a. / and many more

Der Fotograf /The Photographer
ABDUL KHAN


T E A M P A K I S T A N

Regieassistenz/Assistant Director
SHER MOHAMMAD

Produktionsabwicklung/Production Coordinator
JAMAL

Fotograf/Photographer
G.M.B. AKASH

2. Kameraassistenz/2nd Camera Assistant
VERENA LOBISSER

Abwicklung/Service Production
TRAVEL & CULTURE SERVICES


FUTURE

Hochofenarbeiter/Steelworkers
WANG QIANG
WANG XUZHI
XIE FEI
u.v.a. / and many more

Junges Paar /Young couple
XU YUXIANG
CHENG CHENG


T E A M C H I N A

Regieassistenz/Assistant Director
VIKTOR FREY

Produktionsabwicklung / Production Coordinators
YANSHENG SHI
HELEN WANG CFCC
SHEN ZHIHUA CFCC

Fotograf / Photographer
ZHOU HAI

Liaoning Provinz / Liaoning Province
YUAN GUIZHU

Abwicklung/Service Production
ASIA WORLD NETWORK
UWE KRAEUTER / YANSHENG SHI
CHINA FILM COPRODUCTION CORP
YUE GUIZHI / SUSAN XU

EPILOGUE

Die Kinder/The children
ALI GÖNEN
SDAM ZOIOUI
LISA RICHTER
LORAIN ECKMÜLLER
ZEDA GÖKDEMER

Die Jugendlichen/The teenagers
SANDRA STOLZ
SANDRA HUMMEL
SARAH FENDEL
MELANIE FELDT
JESSICA WITTKOWSKI
SABRINA WITTKOWSKI
SHARI DE FLIZE
MIKE NIESWANDT
JUSTIN NOBIS
KEVIN ARMENAT
KAI WIECHERT
ANDREAS HAMANN
MIRJAM SCHMIEDEL
DENIS MANKA
MICHAEL MARTEN
DANIELA BOSSLET
LUKAS FRANKE
FLORIAN VON DER WARTH



T E A M G E R M A N Y

Regieassistenz/Assistant Director
JOHANNA MODER

Beleuchter/Electrician
ANDREAS THEINER

Technik Landschaftspark/Technical support
MARIO WEINERT

Koordination Vorbereitung /Preproduction coordination
KLAUS PRIDNIG

Koordination Recherche /Research coordination
URSULA SOVA

Archiv Recherche /Archive Researcher
THOMAS TODE

Assistenz Recherchereisen/Research assistance
ANDREA GLAWOGGER

Grafik /Graphic design
LIZ POMPE

Homepage/Website programming
SABINE BACHER

Tonschnitt/Sound editing
ZOFFMUSIC
MATZ MÜLLER
ERIC MISCHIJEW

Mischung/Mixer
HANS P. KÜNZI
SOUND DESIGN STUDIOS

Musik/Music by
JOHN ZORN

Musiker /Musicians
CYRO BAPTISTA Percussions
IKUE MORI Electronics
JAMIE SAFT Electric piano
JOHN ZORN Organ, Gamelan
SHANIR EZRA BLUMENKRANZ Bass

Negativschnitt/Negative cutter
VERONIKA AUER

Lichtbestimmung/Color grader
RUEDI TRESCH

Produktionskoordination/Production coordination
MONIKA LENDL
SABINE EDLINGER


Filmgeschäftsführung/Production accountant
BETTINA ENGLISCH

Produzenten/Producers
ERICH LACKNER
MIRIAM QUINTE
PEPE DANQUART

Equipment/Equipment
ENGSTFELD FILMPRODUKTION
LUTZ REITEMEIER
DOPPLINGER
PILLE FILMGERÄTE
LOTUS-FILM

Filmstock/Filmstock
KODAK

Labor, Blow-Up, Titel & Trick /Lab, blow-up, titles & special effects
SCHWARZ FILM

Versicherung/Insurance company
AON Jauch & Hübner
REGINE REIGER
PETER MAYR

Reisen/Travel coordination
COTTAGE REISEN
UTE TROPPER
MARIA TARAB

DOLBY DIGITAL SRD-EX

Archivmaterial/Archives
FILMMUSEUM WIEN
FILMARCHIV AUSTRIA
DOKUMENTARFILMARCHIV PEKING
DOKUMENTARFILMARCHIV KIEW
DOVZHENKO NATIONAL CENTER KIEW
GROSFILMOFOND, MOSKAU
RUSSISCHES STAATSARCHIV KRASNOGORSK
THYSSENKRUPP KONZERNARCHIV


Untertitel /Subtitles
TITRA

Wir danken/Thanks to
Nikolai Sidorow, Lugansk; Nikolai Mulatschuk, Thorez; Alexander Chudoteply, Donetsk; Kulturpalast Stachanow; Standesamt Stachanow; Österreichische Botschaft in Kiew, Monika Junker-Guldin; Bali Film Commission, Denpasar, Deborah Gabinetti, Ruddy Legoh; Schenker Stinnes Logistics, Theresa Halim; Philip Mulroy; Catimor Homestay, Blawan; BALAI Taman Nasional Alas, Banyuwangi; Indonesische Botschaft, Wien, Sri Rahaju Daryatno; Goethe Institut, Lagos, Michael Müller-Verweyen; Oesterreichische Handelsdelegation, Lagos, Mag. Barbara Schwendenwein, Dr. Albrecht Zimburg; Prof. A.O. Arowolo, Ibadan; Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, Ibadan; The Members of the Executive Committee of the Trans-Amadi Slaughterhouse, Port Hartcourt; Mohammad Elie Shyhaki;The Foreign Affairs Office, Liaoning Provincal People's Government, Shenyang; Foreign Affairs, Anshan Iron and Steel Group, Anshan; Xing Danwen; Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord, Günter Zieling; Kinemathek im Ruhrgebiet, Paul Hofmann; Roland Herden; Gesamtschule Meidrich, Herr Lesemann, Herr Witzke; Mahtab Haider; Dreamfactory, Dhaka, Shahiduzzamann Selim, Nasiruddin Yousuff; Boodee Keerthisena; Bernhard Probst; Alexander Horwath; u.v.a.

Eine Produktion von / Produced by
LOTUS-FILM, Vienna and QUINTE FILM, Freiburg with ARTE G.E.I.E.
www.lotus-film.com
www.quintefilm.de
www.arte-tv.com


mit Unterstützung von /with the support of
Österreichisches Filminstitut /Austrian Film Institute
www.filminstitut.at

EURIMAGES /The Council of Europe fund for European cinematographic works
www.coe.int/T/E/Cultural_Co-operation/Eurimages/

Filmfonds Wien/ The Vienna Film Fund
www.filmfonds-wien.at

ORF - Film/Fernseh-Abkommen
Austrian Broadcasting Corporation
www.orf.at

Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg
MFG Film Funding Baden-Wuerttemberg
www.mfg.de


© 2005 LOTUS / QUINTE / ARTE


Released: November 18, 2005