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Winner of the Best Documentary Feature Oscar, Barbara Kopple’s American Dream details the tumultuous 1985–86 labor strike against Hormel Foods in Austin, Minnesota. Fed up with dangerous plant conditions and drastic wage cuts, Austin’s Local P-9 went against the advice of its parent union and, aided by an activist campaign to damage the meatpacking giant’s reputation, conducted a nearly yearlong walkout. But as the strike dragged on, some workers found themselves desperate enough to cross the picket line, dividing a community already roiled by blockades, riots, and the intervention of the National Guard. Following up her landmark documentary Harlan County USA with another uncompromising report from the trenches of working-class America, Kopple captures the human and political costs of one of the most significant setbacks to organized labor amid the unchecked corporatism of the Reagan era.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Barbara Kopple, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
Interview from 1992 with Kopple
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by film programmer Thom Powers

New cover by Eric Skillman

This was definitely depressing to watch as a thematic follow-up to Harlan County, USA. It makes sense to do a third film on union struggles today, but also very demoralizing to think what it would capture.

They couldn’t even produce a NEW interview with Kopple? Or a commentary?

She just did a Q&A for this and Harlan County, USA at IFC Center. I know IFC records some footage from intros and Q&A's because they project them before their screenings, but unfortunately Criterion usually doesn't make bonuses out of these events.

hearthesilence wrote: Tue May 19, 2026 12:15 am She just did a Q&A for this and Harlan County, USA at IFC Center. I know IFC records some footage from intros and Q&A's because they project them before their screenings, but unfortunately Criterion usually doesn't make bonuses out of these events.

She also did one in Los Angeles earlier this year. It would be nice to have more contextualization and critical analysis of this film