Rock Goldsmith comes to the Enzian for a screening of ‘Stripped for Parts’ Credit: Courtesy
Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink is coming to Enzian Theater Sunday, and director Rick Goldsmith will be on hand discuss his filmmaking approach and how he uses the camera as a tool to expose secrecy.
The documentary tackles Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund notorious for buying local newspapers, slashing staff and resources brutally, and hollowing out communities’ access to credible information and news. But while the subject matter is urgent, Goldsmith’s motivation isn’t just economic or political; it’s deeply personal.
Back in 2018, while searching for his next story, an article caught Goldsmith’s eye. “The headline was, ‘Alden Global Capital is making so much money wrecking local journalism that they may not stop anytime soon,’” Goldsmith tells Orlando Weekly. The piece, by journalist Ken Doctor, sparked what would become years of investigation and storytelling.
“It jumped out at me that, wow, what is going on that somebody’s making money wrecking local journalism as opposed to practicing local journalism,” Goldsmith says.
Goldsmith isn’t new to chasing powerful institutions. His career spans decades, and his films have earned two Academy Award nominations: Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press (1996) and The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009). Each centers on truth-tellers and whistleblowers who put everything on the line to expose corruption.
“So all of that gets folded into the story because it’s not just, oh, these hedge funds are destroying newspapers, it’s what is the response of communities of journalists all over the country,” Goldsmith says.
Goldsmith chooses to follow characters: reporters caught in the crosshairs of financial greed. In Stripped for Parts, he highlights journalists who fought to preserve their papers from Alden’s grip, offering a front-row seat to both their battles and heartbreaks.
“So, they not only covered it, but they became part of the story. And, for me, that was an attraction to just jump in, see what this was all about, and I’m always interested in people becoming active,” Goldsmith says.
Goldsmith resists flashy editing or manipulative narration. His style is intimate and unflinching, leaving spaces for the audience to feel the urgency themselves.
In an era when journalism is under attack, from shrinking newsrooms to disinformation online to a sitting president filing a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the New York Times only this week, Goldsmith believes filmmakers have a responsibility.
“Journalism is under attack like never before in my lifetime, and, you know, I grew up in the 1950s. There’s a lot at stake here. And if we don’t save and improve journalism, and make it true public service journalism, we might as well kiss democracy goodbye, because that’s what’s happening at this moment,” Goldsmith says.
Goldsmith hopes this screening, part of this year’s Global Peace Film Festival, sparks not just awareness but action. He knows that one documentary won’t reverse decades of decline, but it might help audiences connect the dots. (If you think it can’t happen here, you should know that Alden owns our local daily newspaper.)
“What I wanted to do was give people a feel for what journalists do every day,” Goldsmith says. “Something that will inspire people about how exciting it is. You know, how valuable journalism is, how worthwhile a profession it is to go into. And, if you’re so inclined, keep at it.”
Goldsmith will discuss Stripped for Parts at a special screening at Enzian at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 21, followed by a Q&A moderated by Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell with Judith Smelser of Central Florida Public Media.
Coal miners strike against the Brookside Mine in Harlan County, Kentucky Credit: still from the film “Harlan County, USA”
According to recent Gallup polling, public support for labor unions in the U.S. is at a near-record high, with 68 percent of U.S. adults voicing approval. And yet here in the Sunshine State, and the broader U.S. South, the percentage of workers who are actually represented by a union is dismally low. Although union representation has been linked to higher average income and greater access to benefits like paid time off, the power of Florida’s labor movement has been stunted by a decades-old policy agenda historically hostile to labor unions, multiracial solidarity and basic worker rights, including Floridians’ right to a minimum wage and a right to safety on the job.
Still, history shows us that the so-called “non-union” South isn’t immune to the power and solidarity of working people who are willing to fight (sometimes literally) for safe working conditions and fair pay on the job. For the 2025 Global Peace Film Festival, Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple will bring her classic class-struggle documentary Harlan County, USA directly to an Orlando audience this week. The film, first released in 1976, offers a graphic, gritty and eye-opening depiction of a 13-month strike by Duke Power Company coal miners (a company we know today as Duke Energy) in Harlan County, Kentucky.
The film, a must-see for labor history buffs (like this reporter), documents the bitter 1973 miners’ strike at Harlan County’s Brookside Mine. The strike began in part due to the utility’s failure to recognize the workers’ formation of their union, affiliated with the United Mine Workers, spurred by the draw of benefits such as healthcare, paid leave and a pension. It ended shortly after a 22-year-old striking miner was murdered by a (non-union) mine supervisor, tragically leaving behind a 16-year-old widow and their baby.
Notably, not only do the miners play a starring role in the film, but so too, do the miners’ wives, who organized around the notion that they didn’t want to see their husbands die from preventable diseases like black lung or inside the mines. The group played a critical role in drumming up morale and making the miners’ fight a community fight. “The strikers … generally believe that the women — along with the $100 a week in strike benefits each worker gets from the [United Mine Workers] — have been the main reason that the strikers have been able to hold out so long,” the New York Timesreported nine months into the strike in May 1974, noting that the women spoke of their “picket line skirmishes” with “a kind of revolutionary fervor.”
Kopple, who’s currently working on a new film, graciously agreed to an interview with Orlando Weekly to discuss the relevance of Harlan County, USA for today’s audiences, as well as Gumbo Coalition, a 2022 film of hers that will also screen at the Global Peace Film Festival. The GPFF, first established in 2003, will show 20 films from Sept. 16 through Sept. 21 at Enzian Theater, Rollins College and the Winter Park Library.
We have more details on the festival below. But first, our interview with Kopple herself:
How did you get involved with the Global Peace Film Festival?
I have heard about the festival for years from my friend Nina Streich. She is the head of the festival, and a remarkable person. She is passionate about social justice films, and shows wonderful work there that ordinarily people outside big metropolitan areas would not get a chance to see. It is a space for community members to come together and discuss the issues that matter. I am honored to screen my work here.
Why did this feel like the right year to bring Harlan County, USA and Gumbo Coalition to GPFF?
Gumbo Coalition is about two dedicated civil rights leaders [Marc Morial and Janet Murguía] on the frontline of the fight for justice, which nowadays feels more urgent than ever. In this very polarized time, it is so important to understand different perspectives, to listen to each other and witness the hardships of so many in our communities. I hope that the leaders portrayed in the film and their strength and passion can inspire others to step up, speak out and help build a more equitable society.
Harlan County, USA, too is so relevant, as unions have been rising up everywhere, from autoworkers to delivery workers to actors and screenwriters and fast food workers, to name just a few.
Auto workers in Orlando strike Stellantis as part of a national United Auto Workers strike in 2023. Credit: Dave Decker
What lessons do you think workers in the South (including Florida) can take from Harlan County, USA today, nearly 50 years after its release?
In states like Florida, and in so many places across the country, union density is low but there is a huge need to protect workers. The people of Harlan County stood together, even in the hardest of times, and I hope this film shows others that they have strength in numbers, and that they can win even if the challenges seem insurmountable.
One lesson from the film is the role of women and families. They stand on the picket lines along with their husbands, keeping the spirit alive. It shows something very important in organizing: that it’s about families and communities that have your back. Broad solidarity is something we need everywhere, especially in places where immigrants and women are at the heart of the workforce.
What do you believe has changed in the South’s organizing landscape, and what hasn’t?
The landscape of work itself has changed, but the struggles remain the same. On the picket lines in Harlan County, people were shot at and intimidated. Today, companies hire union-busting firms to ensure the union’s progress will be stifled, and they pay these firms millions of dollars in exchange. But many unions are fighting back; while in Harlan County, our camera was there, nowadays workers use social media to organize and tell their own stories. Shedding light on injustice for me is often the first step to try to change it.
You were about 30 years old when this film was released, so I’m curious: What drew you to this story? And, for our readers who are similarly interested in film production, what were the biggest challenges you faced in filming and bringing this to the screen?
I heard about a coal miner named Arnold Miller, coming out of the coal mines and running for the election of the president of the United Mine Workers. He wanted to make big changes, he wanted to do something about black lung, mine safety, a decent wage, and he was running against [William Anthony] Tony Boyl, who was in collusion with the coal operators. I filmed Miller’s campaign; his promise was to organize the unorganized. In Eastern Kentucky, there was a strike and I wanted to see if he would make good on his promise to support the workers there.
Once I arrived in Eastern Kentucky and met the women and men on the picket lines, I became drawn into their lives, and ended up living there for 13 months. We were shot at with semi-automatic carbines, a coal miner was killed by a company foreman, and it was dangerous — people lived and died by their guns. When I told my parents what was happening, my mother forbade me to stay there another day, but I told her I was only kidding. She said, “Don’t ever kid around like that again.” We also had no funding, and I had to use a credit card to try to make this film.
I hope the audience leaves inspired and ready to take part in organizing and making something better.
Barbara Kopple
Orlando’s economy is dependent on our tourism industry, which employs about one-third of the region’s workforce. What do you think tourism workers, many of whom are low-wage and lack union representation, have in common with the workers and families featured in your film? What lessons can a local bartender, housekeeper or character performer take from this film?
The industries may be different, but the feeling of being undervalued, underpaid or easily fired, are much the same. In Harlan County, coal miners died from black lung disease. An activist recently told me her best friend died because she inhaled so much bleach cleaning other people’s homes, and her lung was damaged. When Covid hit, she died. There was no protection for her or her family, because she was not an employee, and undocumented.
But I have learned that even undocumented workers here [in New York] are organizing each other; some of them have fought in great numbers, together, to pass bills that protect even the most vulnerable workers, and they have had significant victories. Some of them organized … their own OSHA classes for newly arrived immigrants. This can be the first step of community-building, and a step towards eventual union representation.
Disney World and Disney Springs workers protest the firing of a union activist. (Oct. 29, 2024) Credit: McKenna Schueler
What do you hope for a local audience here in Orlando, Florida (a state with one of the largest immigrant populations in the U.S.) to be able to take from your film Gumbo Coalition?
I hope people take away that whether you’re an immigrant, a young activist or someone who is really passionate about making change, that your voice matters, and that coalitions between people of different backgrounds can be powerful. I hope the audience leaves inspired and ready to take part in organizing and making something better.
Is there anything you can tell us about the project you are currently filming?
My new film is a portrait of modern labor today. Like with all my films, it’s about being close to people and their families, following workers as they move through very turbulent times. I always strive to show their resilience, dedication and the sheer hard work it takes to keep the movement alive.
Harlan County, USA screens at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, at the Bush Auditorium at Rollins College. Gumbo Coalition, following civil rights leaders Marc Morial and Janet Murguía, screens at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18, at the Bush Auditorium. Tickets are $10 each.
Find more information about the 2025 Global Film Festival and purchase tickets at peacefilmfest.org.
If approved by workers, a strike could be called for as soon as Sept. 30.
Layton City Council member Jared Rodriguez reported earning $2,100 per day for a month-long job last year to ‘assess’ employees at an Amazon facility in New Jersey.
One nurse told Orlando Weekly that federal orders to house undocumented immigrants on behalf of ICE have worsened short-staffing problems.
Altered Boy: Darienne Lake Drag Me to the Stage presents a hilarious and heartfelt night starring RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Darienne Lake. 8 pm Friday; Alexis and Jim Pugh Theater, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave.; $52.93-$79.55; drphillipscenter.org.
Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín Opera Orlando presents the Florida premiere of a concert-drama that combines Verdi’s “Requiem” with video testimony from survivors of the original Terezín chorus and footage from the 1944 Nazi propaganda film about Theresienstadt. 7:30 pm Saturday; Steinmetz Hall, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave.; $49-$149; 407-358-6603; drphillipscenter.org.
Global Peace Film Festival Promote peace and environmentalism through the medium of film. Festival starts Tuesday, Sept. 17; events are booked at various locations; $10-$150; peacefilmfest.org.
Memento Morididdle: Charles Clary Charles Clary’s Memento Morididdle installations take the form of Victorian or Rococo salon style walls, densely compacted with hundreds of frames, with each frame containing a paper sculpture. Exhibition opening 5 pm Thursday; UCF Art Gallery, 12400 Aquarius Agora Drive; free; 407-823-2676; cah.ucf.edu.
Music Mondays: Boom! A Film About the Sonics The untold story of one of rock & roll’s wildest and most influential bands, The Sonics. For the first time ever, all five original members of the band tell the story of how it all went down, beginning to end. Post-film live performance from The Tremolords. 9 pm Monday; Enzian Theater, 1300 S. Orlando Ave., Maitland; $12.50; 407-629-0054; enzian.org.
Nosferatu Inspired by vampire lore from famous literature such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula, films like Interview With a Vampire and Twilight, and TV shows including Buffy and True Blood, The Ren’s Nosferatu is a one-of-a-kind experience where audiences move from space to space to delight in a surprising and elevated artistic experience. 7 pm Friday-Saturday; Renaissance Theatre Co., 415 E. Princeton St.; $10-$250; rentheatre.com.
Qahwah Con Leche Pop-Up A Syrian and Puerto Rican-owned pop-up café where Latin and Arab worlds connect over coffee, music and culture. DJs spin a carefully curated sonic blend of Latin & Arabic vinyl from the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Saturday-Sunday; Uncle Tony’s Donut Shoppe, 703 N. Orange Ave.; 407-734-0034; instagram.com/qahwahconleche.
The Turn of the Screw The classic horror tale of possession and repression in a thrilling and acclaimed stage adaptation that gives the story yet another turn. With two actors playing every role on a bare stage, the shadowy mysteries and horrors of this show are like no other you’ll see. Friday-Sunday; Timucua Arts Foundation, 2000 S. Summerlin Ave.; 407-595-2713; timucua.com.
Vegan Block Party Jam-packed event day featuring a wide variety of vendors and food trucks, celebrity hosts, contests, music, free wellness workshops, sponsor giveaways, family fun activities, art, activism, and much more. 4 pm Saturday; Luminary Green Park, 437 N. Terry Ave.; $10; 407-952-2928; veganblockparty.com.
Virginia Drive Live Vendors are placed along Virginia Drive from Orange Avenue to Mills Avenue, offering arts, crafts, shopping, food and music. 5 pm Saturday; Virginia Drive, Virginia Drive; $5; ivanhoevillage.org.
