Événement

TRIANGLE: Remembering the Fire

Women's International Film Festival

On March 25, 1911, a catastrophic fire broke out at the Triangle Waist Company in New York City. Trapped inside
the upper floors of a ten-story building, 146 workers - mostly young immigrant women and teenage girls
- were burned alive or forced to jump to their deaths to escape an inferno that consumed the factory in just 18 minutes.
It was the worst workplace disaster in New York State until 9/11. Safety precautions such as sprinklers and
fire drills existed at the time, but were not required by government regulations, which would have cost businesses
money. As public outrage grew after the fire, the city responded quickly to demands and Tammany Hall officials
worked with the fledgling ILGWU to enact legislation improving safety, conditions and wages for garment workers,
serving as the foundation of today's labor standards. The tragedy changed the course of history, paving the way
for government to represent working people, not just business, for the first time, and helped an emerging American middle class to live the American Dream. Emmy-winning filmmakers Marc Levin and Daphne Pinkerson bring the victims' stories to life through never-before-seen photographs and heartfelt accounts by descendants of those who were there that day.