Wisconsin Rising

Wisconsin Rising documents the largest sustained workers' resistance movement in American history. In 2011, Wisconsin is a testing ground for the nation as big money attempts to undo basic workers' rights when newly elected Republican Governor Scott Walker suddenly strips collective bargaining power from the state's public employees. This film catapults the viewer into the days, weeks, and months when Wisconsinites fight back against power, authority, and injustice. This occurs months before the Occupy movement, with Wisconsinites spontaneously occupying their state capitol for weeks as never before seen in American history. As the story unfolds, democracy itself is at stake. The government in Wisconsin looks like a circus, as Republicans invent new laws daily, restricting the access of citizens—and even elected officials—to the State House. Cameras are rolling on March 9, 2011, when Republican Senators attempt to vote on the bill with no public notice as more than 10,000 people pour into the capitol, occupying its halls overnight. Dramatic footage shows Republican Senators fleeing the state capitol on a secret shuttle as thousands of Wisconsinites fill the State House and Capitol grounds in protest. Collecting more than a million signatures, the people attempt to oust Scott Walker in a recall election. He is only the third governor in American history to face a recall election and is the first to survive. What will the people of Wisconsin do in the face of these perceived injustices? How will the citizens rebuild and reorganize, and what can the rest of America learn from their actions? DVD extras include interviews with Dennis Kucinich and Tom Morello.

Sam Mayfield is a videographer, an editor, and a video journalist who has been documenting stories that remain untold by the commercial media since 2004. In 2011, she traveled to Wisconsin to cover the popular uprising against legislation gutting basic workers rights. She went for a planned four days and ultimately stayed seven months, documenting this piece of American history as it unfolded in front of her. Green Valley Media has been documenting the culture of human rights since 1974. E. W. Stetson has produced documentaries and feature films on topics ranging from environmental issues to affordable housing and many overlooked facets of U.S. political history.