MH Filmmaker Working on IWW Documentary

I received a nice note from documentary filmmaker Maria Brooks, who produced "Shipping Out: The Story of America's Seafaring Women," which you might have seen on PBS stations in the last few months. The film focuses on contemporary women in maritime industry, including a ferry deck hand, a pilot, and a tugboat captain. For some historical context, Maria interviewed Port Townsend writer Barbara Sjoholm, who recently published a book on sea-going women titled "Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O'Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea."

Maria, who's based in the Bay Area, says she's working on a new film on the Industrial Workers of the World, or IWW, also known as the Wobblies. These were trade unionists in the early part of the 20th century with a vision of "One Big Union." Maria's film will look at the Centralia Massacre and the treatment of political dissidents in Washington State during and after World War I. It's a fascinating story that should be told more often, and I'm looking forward to the film.