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The article studies representations of female workers in movies, directed for the most part by women, over the past fifty years. The diversity of these films reflects developments in cinematic production and differences between countries and areas of the world. But most of these films show the striking painfulness of the work carried out by female workers in certain industrial sectors. Some of them concentrate on the struggles against the hardships and constraints of work, and, in Western Europe, depict struggles relating to plant closures. These movies depict gender inequalities or contradictions both at work and in other facets of life; these are portrayed at times as arising at the heart of the struggles. Lastly, the dignity of female workers is a concern present in most of these movies.