In my sixties archives I have about 50 films made by Newsreel. We also have
films made by the Vietnamese, Cubans, and other filmmakers from around the
world.
I have the following Vietnamese film made in the 60's
Telecomunications #2 It is shot by Vietnamese camera men it is a story
about the men and women (great shots of women "manning" the big guns)
fighting and shooting down US planes that were bombing them. If I remember
correctly it also has a woman dancer at night dancing around a campfire with
a shell of a bomb on her shoulder. Or is this a Chinese film Im thinking of.
I also have a Vietnamese film we callthe Puppet film. About a group of
childen that learn to make puppets then travel around the countryside putting
on puppet shows. . They collect parts of an American plane that was shot down
to make their puppets. In the beginning of the film it says it is dedicated
to the children of the USA from the children of Vietnam.
People"s War , a Newsreel film, shot by John Douglas, Robert Kramer and Norm
Fructer. It was shot abt 69 when Newsreel was invited to go with a group of
activists including, David Dellinger, Jimmy Johnson, Grace Paley and ??. They
thought they were going to have an interview with Ho but he was ill. The film
is about the lives of the people in Vietnam, people telling stories about
their lives. A beautiful scene of a woman making tea, and another of men
sawing a large log by hand.
As it turned out, the Vietnamese decided to release the first American
prisoners of war to the American peace movement . Newsreel and the group flew
back to the US with the prisoners. I was at the airport when they returned .
I watched thru the glass windows as they passed through customs . Newsreel
had all of the footage shot in Vietnam taken away by US agents. Months later
it was returned processed and the film Peoples War was made.
In my collection o FBI documents I have a document that reads as follows:
April 17, 1970 To Special Agent in Charge , New York
>From Director, FBI
BLACK PANTHER PARTY - FILMS
RACIAL MATTERS
Authority is granted to expend up to $175 to obtain a copy of the film
"People's War." When obtained, promptly furnish film to the Bureau.
Attention Racial Intelligence Section
2. BPP trial in NYC was the Panther 21 trial. I testified at that trial
and have great photos of the demonstrations outside. Yes , they were
acquited of all charges. They had a cop in the group. He testified that
among other charges, the 21 were conspiring to blow up the Bronx
Botanical Gardens and Bloomingdales. The forman of the jury and members of
the jury went to their victory party and showed up at the 20th reunion. For
the 20th reunion I brought a large cake that said "All Power to the People"
When I went to pick it up at the bakery I asked the two workers there if they
know what it means? One said she thought it had some thing to do with the
Electric Co. since the people in Burlington own the electric Co.
3. David H writes
<<The FBI's support for the civil rights activists may have
been less than stellar but that does not in any way shape or fashion
alter the fact that it was there. The FBI did nail the assassin of
Medgar Evers and federal law enforcement and the military were in the
south to defend the civil rights movement >>
David, You are right the FBI was there.
I worked in a law office 8 years reading & making an computerized index to
more than 350,000 documents in . the FBI's Conintelpro files on Black
Extremists and the Black Panther Party . These were not Freedom of Info.
documents where so much is crossed out or missing. They were discovery
material in a civil suit of Dhoruba bin Wadad. After 4 years fighting in court
to get the documents Judge Mary Johnson Lowe ordered the FBI to release them
or to be held in comtempt of court.
Yes David, the Feds were there , at larger public events such as when
little black girls intergated a white school and some larger demonstrations ,
they were there along with the press. The Feds were not there dealing with
the day to day life of Black folks usually unless they were spying. I have
documentation of thousands of counterintelligence operations invented and
carried out by the Feds. The Panthers scared the shit out of the Feds .
That day when they surrounded the Calif capital in sacramento with their guns
, wearing black leather cointelpro was intensified against the BPP. Black
people with guns. The Panthers had guns for selfdefense. In case you haven't
noticed there was violence against Blacks in the US of A. Yes, there were
fights, murders, robberies , along with breakfast programs for children,
political education classes, health clinics, weekly newspaper etc. My god
do you know how much time and work it takes to do things. Don't forget ,
Little Bobby Hutton, Fred Hampton, and the Alex Rackly murder which were
initiated and carried out by law enforcement agents. I could go on but won't .
The Panthers were made up of a diverse group of folks. Some were street angry
criminals , some were intellectual college students , and some were workers
and some were crazy. You are wrong to lump all Panthers together. It 's like
lumping together all white folks in sds. Give me a break.
David , do you feel the same way about the weather people.? Are they criminal
Murderers? And , can governments or businesses be murderers?
Im working on a video about Panthers, FBI agents, and white women that worked
with the Panthers. I've been shooting oral histories including Panthers in
exile wanted for murder in the USA, retired FBI agents that started cointelpro
programs against the Panthers , and white women in and out of prison.
While Im at it , anyone interested in showing Newsreel films, lectures abt.
Cointelpro, I have a 40 peice FBI art show about Cointelpro "The Art of Crime/
Crime of Art.
Roz Payne
http://www.artvt.com/p_payne.htm
if you want to see the films i have when you get to my page hit Newsreel.