Workingman's Death

Workingman's Death
DVD cover
Directed byMichael Glawogger
Written byMichael Glawogger
Produced byPepe Danquart
Erich Lackner
Mirjam Quinte
CinematographyWolfgang Thaler
Edited byIlse Buchelt
Monika Willi
Music byJohn Zorn
Distributed byPaul Thiltges Distributions
Release dates

  • 25 November 2005 (2005-11-25) (Austria)
Running time
122 minutes
CountryAustria
LanguagesPashto, Yoruba, German, English, Igbo, Indonesian, Mandarin, Russian

Workingman's Death is a 2005 Austrian-German documentary film written and directed by Michael Glawogger. It premiered at the 2005 Venice Film Festival. The film deals with the extremes to which workers go to earn a living in several countries around the world.

The film is composed of six chapters. The first five depict hazardous conditions of hard laborers around the world and the sixth shows contrasting scenes of youths in a former German industrial complex which had been converted into a leisure park:

  1. "Heroes" – Miners of Donets Basin, Ukraine
  2. "Ghosts" – Sulfur carriers in Ijen, Indonesia
  3. "Lions" – Butchers in an open-air market in Port Harcourt, Nigeria
  4. "Brothers" – Welders in the Gadani ship-breaking yard in Pakistan
  5. "The Future" – Steel workers in Liaoning, China
  6. "Epilogue" – Youths in Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord in Germany