A night of pioneering activist documentary filmmaking.
Tuesday 31st of July @ the Midlands Arts Centre Birmingham
http://www.macarts.co.uk/?page=visiting
Hand-held video cameras and now mobile telephones have revolutionised the instantaneous documentation of news events and happenings on the street. To a thus far unprecedented degree they have given power back to the people to record and report events in crisis situations. But this is not new - only the technology has changed.
During the 60s, a period in which America was a nation at war – not least with itself - underground spokesman Jonas Mekas called for a new movement of activist documentary filmmaking with access to “almost weightless, almost invisible” 8mm and 16mm cameras. A new style of “street journalism” evolved reporting on America’s increasingly polarised and radicalised society.
Tuesday 31st of July @ the Midlands Arts Centre Birmingham
http://www.macarts.co.uk/?page=visiting Hand-held video cameras and now mobile telephones have revolutionised the instantaneous documentation of news events and happenings on the street. To a thus far unprecedented degree they have given power back to the people to record and report events in crisis situations. But this is not new - only the technology has changed.
During the 60s, a period in which America was a nation at war – not least with itself - underground spokesman Jonas Mekas called for a new movement of activist documentary filmmaking with access to “almost weightless, almost invisible” 8mm and 16mm cameras. A new style of “street journalism” evolved reporting on America’s increasingly polarised and radicalised society.
People’s Park
The Young Lords
America’s In Real Trouble
Dir: Tom Palazzolo USA 1967 15mins
One of the most effective underground documentary shorts of the 60’s, this is a relaxed rumination on the nature of American patriotism. It observes a number of military parades in Chicago and revels in the absurd, almost cultish, iconography that is traditional at these events. The images are scored with a soundtrack of patriotic songs culled from the radio and provides a compelling visual and audio snapshot of the times.
People’s Park
The San Francisco Newsreel Group USA 1969 25mins b/w
In 1969 an unused lot in Berkeley commandeered by local residents and turned into a playground for their children, People’s Park, was soon targeted for eradication by California University, which owned the land. The film documents how the whole issue questioned the very concept of “private property.” The National Guard was called in to storm the park. Riots broke out and a number of people were shot, shocking American TV viewers. It was another defining moment in the radicalisation of a generation.
The Young Lords (El Pueblo Se Levanta)
The New York City Newsreel Group USA 1971 42mins b/w
Formed in Chicago in the early 60’s as a Puerto Rican street gang, The Young Lords transformed into a radical leftist political organisation. fighting for better health care, nutrition and housing in America’s most blighted ghettos. In 1969 they occupied a church in Spanish Harlem that had refused to cooperate with and serve the local community, and the film is based on this event. Capturing in compelling cinema vérité fashion the philosophy of the Young Lords and the clashes with police who evicted them. The spirit and feel of the times are conveyed via a mix of raw interviews, street scenes and archive footage scored to excellent music.
Dir: Tom Palazzolo USA 1967 15mins
One of the most effective underground documentary shorts of the 60’s, this is a relaxed rumination on the nature of American patriotism. It observes a number of military parades in Chicago and revels in the absurd, almost cultish, iconography that is traditional at these events. The images are scored with a soundtrack of patriotic songs culled from the radio and provides a compelling visual and audio snapshot of the times.
People’s Park
The San Francisco Newsreel Group USA 1969 25mins b/w
In 1969 an unused lot in Berkeley commandeered by local residents and turned into a playground for their children, People’s Park, was soon targeted for eradication by California University, which owned the land. The film documents how the whole issue questioned the very concept of “private property.” The National Guard was called in to storm the park. Riots broke out and a number of people were shot, shocking American TV viewers. It was another defining moment in the radicalisation of a generation.
The Young Lords (El Pueblo Se Levanta)
The New York City Newsreel Group USA 1971 42mins b/w
Formed in Chicago in the early 60’s as a Puerto Rican street gang, The Young Lords transformed into a radical leftist political organisation. fighting for better health care, nutrition and housing in America’s most blighted ghettos. In 1969 they occupied a church in Spanish Harlem that had refused to cooperate with and serve the local community, and the film is based on this event. Capturing in compelling cinema vérité fashion the philosophy of the Young Lords and the clashes with police who evicted them. The spirit and feel of the times are conveyed via a mix of raw interviews, street scenes and archive footage scored to excellent music.