Labour/Leisure (2019)

(19 min; documentary; 35mm transferred to digital; 5.1)

Directed by Jessica Johnson, Ryan Ermacora

The Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia is marketed as a destination of leisure, recreation, retirement and wealth. Behind this facade is a largely invisible agricultural labour force, comprised of temporary migrant workers from the Global South. These workers are placed in a system that is inherently precarious and potentially exploitative, wherein their legal status is tied directly to their employer, with no path to permanent citizenship. While the workers pay into Canadian health care and pension plans, they do not benefit from these social goods as temporary citizens. This film aims to make this labour visible, while contemplating the prescribed aesthetics imposed on the landscape within the region. Formally, the film resides at the intersection of photography and the moving image, while embracing the generative structural limitations of early cinema.

This film was made with the financial support of the Canada Arts Council, BC Arts Council, National Film Board, and Kelowna Film Society.