The Salinas Project, a feature-length documentary about the lives of four young adults in East Salinas, will be shown at Cal State Monterey Bay as part of the 14th annual Reel Work May Day Labor Film Festival April 28 through May 1.

The festival features films that illuminate the lives and struggles of people in the United States and around the world. The programs are sponsored by the CSUMB chapter of the California Faculty Association.

The Salinas Project tells the stories of children of farmworkers who are succeeding in spite of their difficult life circumstances. It introduces us to Yajaira as she starts her first year of college; Lolo, a musician who played the French horn at Carnegie Hall; Fernanda, an activist who spoke in Washington, D.C., about youth efforts to combat violence; and Angel, who decided to return to his hometown after graduating from college to help his community.

Filmmaker Carolyn Brown, an assistant professor of journalism at American University, will be on hand to talk about the documentary, which had its premiere showing at last fall's Carmel International Film Festival. The Salinas premiere will be held at 7 p.m., April 27, at the National Steinbeck Center.

Details of the festival showings on campus:

Tuesday, April 28, 2 p.m., Coast Hall (Bldg. 45), Room 104, on Sixth Avenue between A and B streets, The Salinas Project (86 minutes).

Thursday, April 30, 8 p.m.,Tanimura & Antle Library, Room 1188, Divarty Street and Fifth Avenue, Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony (103 minutes), a 2002 documentary depicting the struggles of black South Africans against the injustices of apartheid through the use of music. The film takes its name from the Zulu and Xhosa word for power. Speaker: CSUMB instructor Karen Davis.

Friday, May 1, noon, World Languages and Cultures-North (Bldg. 49) , Room 106, on Sixth Avenue and A Street, What the Hell is a Labor Union? (57 minutes) shows low-wage immigrant hospitality workers in Los Angeles in a long fight to gain new contracts with Disney and Hyatt. Their battle illustrates the principles of unionism. Across the globe, citizens in Sweden speak about the value of having the world's strongest labor movement. Speaker: filmmaker Paul Russell Laverack.

Admission to all events is free; donations will be accepted. Visitors must purchase a parking permit from a nearby dispenser or online. Driving directions and a campus map are available here.

For a complete listing of this year’s films in Monterey, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties, visit www.reelwork.org. For more information on the CSUMB screenings, contact Jennifer Colby at jcolby@csumb.edu.