marty wrote
>With regard to feminism, some of the first feminist activists in NYC (Robin
>Morgan in particular) were close to the Yippies. But they broke with the
>Yippies (before Chicago) cause the Yippies didn't take them seriously and
>because they felt that feminism, and not the vaguer counter-culture Yippie
>orientation, represented the real revolution. But that's another thread.
>
I was was one "of the first feminists activists in NYC" (should read sixties
activists, as there were many before us). Not all of us broke with
the Yippies. And, not all us feminists broke with men. Lets not forget
that Robin Morgan was living with a man and so were others. Some of us
loved the Yippies theater and felt that their politics complimented and added
to the anti war movement, the fight against racisim, and the struggle for
equal rights for women . Working with Newsreel I shot film of yippie
events. The Yippies were fun. I was friends with yippies. I and a few
others in Newsreel fought with the majority of others in Newsreel to have
Newsreel distribute the Yippie film.
Here is a true story in response to Martys statement.
One day after the Chicago Convention Sharon Krebs, Nancy Kurshon, (SP?) and
myself (Roz Payne) had lunch and a meeting at Ken Pitchford (spell?) and
Robin Morgans apartment on Third Ave, over Kiels Store.
The indictments came down from the House Un American Activities Comm.
in Washington inditing the Chicago 8 folks including Abbie, Tom, Bobby,
Dave, Lee, Jerry, Rennie, etc........
We had all worked on organizing the demonstrations at the convention. None
of us had been indicted , no women had been indicted. The Commeettee decided
that only the men were the leaders and left us out of the event. We were
pissed.
We sat around a table discussing what we were going to do about it.
We decided to have a press conference and attend the HUAC hearings in
Washington dress as witchs and putting a hex both on HUAC and on the boys
indicted for being responsible for the demonstrations in Chicago.
We wrote a piece collectivly .
We were discussing what the letters in the word Witch stood for When Kens
voice from another room came Kens voice saying , Womens International
Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell? We all liked it.
We notified the press , held our press conference in front of the famous Gem
Spa
on Second Ave and St. Marks, home of great egg creams. We received
excellent press. Including , years later a front page of NY TImes mag. for a
story on witches.
We showed up for HUAC hearings on the chicago convention in
washington. With oregino drew a circle on the ground and performed our hex
on all the committe men on HUCA and on our chicago home boys.
This is the hex .
Dear Sixties list
I've received numerous requests for information on the Newsreel films
transfered to video that are in my archive. Our web page is down right now
but will be back up shortly. In the interest of information I am sending
this list some of the Newsreel videos I have, there are more. My best, Roz
Payne
Roz Payne Video/ Film Archives
POBox 164 Richmond, Vermont 05477
E mail roznews@aol.com
http://www.artvt.com/p_payne.htm
All films have been transferred to video . Large collection of black & white
photos, posters, buttons, t shirts, leaflets, newspapers, magazines, small
press, and FBI Counter intelligence files on Blacks are among the artifacts
that are available as support material for the films. Copyright for
films/videos l999 . For information about orders and prices please contact
Roz Payne
All descriptions are taken from original Newsreel catalogs
AMERIKA Against the background of the November 1969 Anti-Vietnam War
demonstration in Washington DC., footage from all over the world and music of
the Sixties. 1969 33 minutes
ARMY US Imperialism needs massive military power capable of maintaining
its markets overseas and quelling rebellions at home. This film records the
training and indoctrination given to GIs to produce this force. The men
themselves talk about who the army really serves, and the effect the
indoctrination has on them, and the beginnings of resistance to the army and
against the war. l969 25 minutes
OFF THE PIG (BLACK PANTHER) This is one of the first films made about the
Panthers. It contains interviews with Party leaders Huey Newton and Eldridge
Cleaver describing why the Party was formed and what its goals are. It also
includes footage of Panther recruitment, training and the Party's original 10
Point Program laid out by Chairman Bobby Seale. l968 15 minutes
THE CASE AGAINST LINCOLN CENTER (EL CASO CONTRA LINCOLN CENTER)
La Renovacion Urban destruyo los hogares de 35,000 familias puertoriquenas
de la ciudad de Nueva York para construir Lincoln Center, una vitrina
cultural para las clase dominante de la ciudad. La pelicula explica la
coneccion entre esta accion cotidiana y es imperlialismo corporativo
norteamericano. 12 minutes
To keep the well-to-do from continuing to flee the city and depleting its tax
base, city, state, and federal government, and the Rockefellers, Morgans, and
Mellons finance the prestigious Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. It
was built in the middle of a Puerto Rican ghetto, displacing thousands of
families and a lively street culture. Upper-income families move into
high-rise apartment houses, financially inaccessible and culturally
irrelevant to the lives of the former residents. 11 minutes
COLUMBIA REVOLT In May l968, the students of Columbia University went on
strike after the administrators repeatedly ignored their demand for open
discussion of the university's involvement in racist policies, exploitation
of the surrounding community of Harlem. This is the story of our first major
student revolt, told from inside the liberated buildings. (footage includes
about a minute of Grateful Dead playing a free concert in support of the
strikers , speech by H Rap Brown, shots of Tom Hayden, Mark Rudd, Gustin
Reichback, a marriage, Dr. Margaret Mead, students in Presidents office.)
50 minutes
THE EARTH BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE A analysis of the ecology crisis, this film
dispels the myths that big business and big government have been telling the
people about the world-wide ecological crisis. Is there really
over-population in the world, or is there an unequal distribution of wealth
and food? Do people or large industries ruin the environment? Will the
earth survive for the people or for corporate profit? l971 10 minutes
(One of the first simply made ecology films. )
GARBAGE Bringing the revolution to the ruling class in The Sixties, the
Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers (an New York anarchistic group ) export
garbage from their Lower East Side ghetto to the halls of Lincoln Center for
the Performing Arts-all the while, New York was in its longest bitterest
sanitation workers strike. 10 minutes
HIGH SCHOOL RISING High school corridors patrolled by narcotics agents
and police, distortion of the history of black, brown, and poor white people,
provoked student attacks on the tracking system. Stills, live footage and
rock music. (Note: This film is not technically excellent, but it is very
useful in understanding the problems occurring in most high schools across
the nation today) l969 15 minutes
LOS SIETE DE LA RAZA This film is about the oppression of the Third
World community in the Mission district of San Francisco. It deals
specifically with seven Latino youths who were recruiting street kids into a
college Brown Studies Program. They are accused of killing a
plainclothesman. While they become victims of a press and police campaign to
"clean-up" the Mission, their defense becomes the foundation of a
revolutionary community organization called Los Siete 1969 30
minutes. Available in Spanish and English. Spanish soundtrack is poor
quality.
MAKE OUT The oppressive experience of making-out in a car...from the
woman's point of view. Short and sweet. (The entire film is of a couple
making out and the sound track is what is going through the mind of the girl.
It can be shown a second time with the sound off and the males can make up
their own sound track. 5 minutes
MAYDAY (BLACK PANTHER) On May l, 1969 the Black Panther Party held a
massive rally in San Francisco. Speakers Kathleen Cleaver, Bobby Seale, and
Charles Garry present the rally's demands for the release of Huey Newton and
all political prisoners. The film includes footage of the police raid on
Panther headquarters in San Francisco a few days prior to the rally and the
Panther's Breakfast for Children Program. 1969 15 minutes
ONLY THE BEGINNING For years the sentiment against the war in Vietnam has
been growing. The latest polls show that 73% of the US. population want the
troops out of Vietnam now GI^s are among the most active protesters against
the war. In April, l971, thousands of GI's-Marines and regular army,
veterans and active duty personnel came to Washington, DC., to denounce their
participation in that "dirty war," and to demand it be ended immediately.
The film begins with the demonstration in Washington. In front of the
Capitol, we see the veterans come before the crowd and throw their medals
away. The film moves to Vietnam where the devastating effects of US. bombs
are documented. ONLY THE BEGINNING is about the GI movement to end the war.
1971 20 minutes color
MISS AMERICA, UP AGAINST THE WALL A now historical film about the
disruption of the Miss America pageant of l968. With raps, guerrilla
theater, and original songs . Women stress the (mis)use of their sisters, by
the pageant, as mindless sexual objects. Footage includes Attorney /activist
Flo Kennedy and music written and sung by Bev Grant. 6 minutes
RICHMOND UNION OIL STRIKE In January, l969 oil workers in Richmond ,
California struck. The local police and the Standard Oil goon squads
attacked the strikers and their families, killing one and injuring others.
The striking students from San Francisco State were asked to join the
struggle. For the first time workers and students fight together against
their common enemy. Footage includes speeches of Bob Avakian. 30 min.
PEOPLE'S PARK In the spring of l969 , the Berkeley street community
initiated a project to transform a barren and unused university-owned Lot
into a park for the whole community to enjoy-a People's Park. Because the
park threatened the control of the university and presented a challenge to
the concept of private property, the police and National Guard were used to
brutalize the people and destroy the People's Park. This film was made by SF
Newsreel and was originally rejected by NY Newsreel as not being political
enough. The beginning five minute rap by Frank Barnike a peoples park
politico was added. 25 minutes
POR PRIMERIA VEZ (FOR THE FIRST TIME) The Cuban Film Institute sends
mobile film units into the rural provinces-young and old delight on seeing
movies "for the first time." Modern Times with Charlie Chaplin is shown in a
rural village. An enchanting short that leaves you happy and smiling. 10
minutes Available in Spanish
PEOPLE'S WAR In the summer of l969, Newsreel went to North Vietnam. From
that trip; came PEOPLE'S WAR. This film moves beyond the perception of the
North Vietnamese as victims to a portrait of how the North Vietnamese society
is organized. it shows the relationship of the people to their
government-how local tasks of a village are coordinated and its needs met.
It deals with the reality of a nation that has been at war for twenty-five
years, that is not only resisting US. aggression and keeping alive under
bombing, but that is also struggling to raise its standard of living and to
overcome the underdevelopment of centuries of colonial rule. Amid much
publicity, the footage was confiscated upon its return to the US. . Despite
this attempt at suppression, PEOPLE'S WAS has become one of the most
sought-after films on Vietnam and was chosen for the USA film festival in
Houston, Texas. l970 40 minutes
ROTC The issue of ROTC is uppermost on many college campuses and is a
major focus of anti war activity. In an interview with the head of Harvard
ROTC, the University's ties to the military industrial complex and how ROTC
serves this relationship is exposed. l969 20 minutes
SEVENTY-NINE SPRINGS OF HO CHI MINH This film on the life and death of
HO Chi Minh is a skillfully interwoven blend of old still photographs and
newsreel footage of the DRV's (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) founder, a
man whose life spans three revolutions, three continents and three wars. It
portrays his life: from militant student to revolutionary lead of this
country; and his life-long work dedication to the Vietnamese people and their
struggle for liberation. This eulogy was made by Cuba's renowned filmmaker,
Santiago Alvarez. Musical soundtrack, Spanish titles. (Note: Understanding
of the Spanish titles is not necessary for full enjoyment of the
film.)"...one of the most moving political films this reviewer has seen. .
."Lenny Rubenstein, Cineaste 25 minutes
SHE'S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE'S ANGRY In a skit presented at an abortion rally
in New York City, a beauty contestant is pressured to fulfill certain roles
in order to be the "ideal woman", a "winner". The skit shows how women,
especially minority women, are used in this society for profit. The women
who perform also discuss their personal lives and how their struggle as women
is expressed in the skit. (Note: Soundtrack is sometimes difficult to
understand.) l967 17 minutes
STRIKE CITY Plantation workers in Mississippi having gone on strike
against the extreme exploitation of the plantation system, and decide to form
their own collective Their determination to stick together, rather than go
back to the plantation or be forced out of the state, is their main resource.
After a bitter winter, living in tents, they obtain partial support from
private sources and begin building permanent housing. The poverty program
backs down on its promise of support in response to Mississippi senators who
fear the implications of collectives of back farmers in Mississippi. l965
30 minutes
SUMMER 68 Draft resistance organizing in Boston, a Boston organizer's
trip to North Vietnam--a GI. coffeehouse in Texas, Newsreel's appearance on
Channel 13 in New York--following the production of the Rat's special issue
on Chicago--and Chicago during the Democratic Convention, the planning and
carriage out of five days of protest. Each section focuses on an organizer
central to each project--the attempt is to define the nature of commitment to
"the Movement" against a backdrop of 1968's summer activities.
(Includes footage and discussions of SDS, Dave Dellinger, Osha Newman, and
Tom Hayden in disguise) 1968 60 minutes
TROUBLEMAKERS In 1965, a group of white organizers went into Newark's
central ward to work with the black community, forming the Newark Community
Union Project (NCUP). Traditional forms of protest--letters to city
officials, demonstrations, electoral politics--were used as tactics for
organizing. The film focuses on the action undertaken around three issues.
The first is an attempt to get housing code enforcement; the second, to get a
traffic light installed at a hazardous intersection. After many months of
hallow promises, and inaction on the part of the city government an attempt
was made to elect a third party candidate to the City Council. Lacking the
resources of the two major parties, this was doomed to failure too The film
is an absorbing, informative documentary of the frustrating failures of NCUP
and the problem of getting even modest reform within the present political
structure. But it goes beyond this--it shows clearly the contradictions in
the concept of white groups organizing in black and other third world
communities. A good study in some of the early New Left tactics--how and why
they failed. (footage of Tom Hayden) 1966 53 minutes
THE WOMAN'S FILM THE WOMAN'S FILM was made entirely by women in San
Francisco NEWSREEL. It was a collective effort between the women behind the
camera and those in front of it. The script itself was written from
preliminary interviews with the women in the film. Their participation,
their criticism, and approval were sought at various stages of production.
"... What we see is not only natural and spontaneous, it is thoughtful and
beautiful. It is a film which immediately evokes the sights and sounds and
smells of working class kitchens, neighborhood streets, local supermarkets,
factories, cramped living rooms, dinners cooking, diaper-washing,
housecleaning, and all the other "points of production" and battlefronts
where working class women in America daily confront the realities of their
oppression. It is . . . a supremely optimistic statement, showing the sinews
of struggle and capturing the essential energy and collective spirit of all
working people-and especially that advanced consciousness which working class
women bring to the common struggle." Irwin Silber, Guardian. 1971
40 minutes
YIPPIE YIPPIE is filmed farce, juxtaposing the brutal police riot at the
1968 Democratic Convention with the orgy scenes from D.W. Griffith's
"Intolerance." A clear and energetic no-verbal statement of Yippie politics
. (This film was Yippies answer to Mayor Daleys film on Educational TV. ) 15
minutes 1968
YOUNG PUPPETEERS OF SOUTH VIETNAM "A gift from the youth of South Vietnam
to the youth of America." Teenagers in the NLF liberated areas of South
Vietnam make beautiful, intricate puppets from scraps of US. war materials.
Armed with these puppets, they travel through the liberated zones performing
for the local children while our planes "search and destroy". A poignant
film that gives a view of the war even more powerful than images of
atrocities. English sound track. 25 minutes
TWO HEROIC SISTERS OF THE GRASSLAND A beautiful animated version of a true
story about two young sisters who risked their lives to save their commune's
sheep heard during a sudden snowstorm. The film gives us a sense both of the
values stressed in the new society, and the people's participation at every
level in the transformation of China. English track 42 minutes
EL PUEBLO SE LEVANTA (THE YOUNG LORDS FILM) One-third of the Puerto Rican
people live in the United States. Most have come in search for the better
life promised them by US. propaganda. Instead they found slum housing, poor
or miseducation, low-paying jobs, and constantly rising unemployment, in a
society determined to destroy their cultural identity The film traces the
growth of the Puerto Rican struggle by focusing on the development of the
Young Lords Party. A Newsreel crew in New York City worked closely with the
Lords for a year and a half-participating and recording the events and
programs which the Young Lords are using to make significant advances in the
Puerto Rican struggle. The take over of a church for a breakfast for children
program. The film deals with the main problems in the Puerto Rican
community-health, education, food, and housing. These problems become the
focus of the Young Lords Party.
THE CASE AGAINST LINCOLN CENTER Urban renewal removes 35,000 Puerto Rican
families from New Your City's upper West Side to build Lincoln Center, a
cultural show-case for the city's middle and ruling class. The film
discusses the links between the problems of the city, and the forces of
American corporate imperialism. 1968 12 minutes (may be
available in Spanish)
NO GAME October 21, 1967; The pentagon; 100,000 anti-war demonstrators who
had not come prepared for a violent confrontation with the military police
and Pentagon guards; for the tear gas, and rifle butts. Allen Ginsburg
chanting an exorcism to levitate the Pentagon. 1967 17 minutes (
considered the first Newsreel film)
PIG POWER As students take to the streets in New York and Berkeley, the
forces of order illustrate Mayor Daley's thesis that the police are there "to
preserve disorder", and we must organize to challenge their control and
preserve our lives as well as our life styles. A short impressionistic
montage of music and images pointing up the disparity between their force
and ours. The function of police repressing Black and white demonstrators
alike is emphasized. 6 minutes
COMMUNITY CONTROL The struggle for Community Control in Black and Puerto
Rican communities in New York City. An examination of colonialism as it
manifests itself in many American cities. In two so called experimental
districts, police are constantly called in to enforce the political decisions
of the state and city bureaucracy, and the striking teachers; union. All of
this taking place against the legitimate demands of the community (Ocean
Hill-Brownsville, and East Harlem). Filmed inside some of the schools
involved in the conflict; contains interviews with Herman Ferguson, Minister
of Education for the Republic of New Africa, and Les Campbell, director of
The Afro-American Teachers Association. 50 minutes
VENCEREMOS A film shot in Cuba in l970-71 about two brigades of 500
Americans that went to Cuba illegally in order to show support by breaking
the blockade and to help with the sugar harvest of ten million tons. They
cut cane with brigades that were sent from Vietnam, North Korea, and Latin
America. This is the story of their boat ride from St. Johns, Canada and
their stay in Cuba.
20 minutes
HIGH SCHOOL A film about high school students and how school becomes a
prison. (muddled, sound, poor editing useful footage of high school students)
20 minutes
YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY THE WAR A speech by former Miss America, Bess
Meyerson presented to the group Another Mother for Peace at a gathering in
Beverly Hills. One of the strongest speeches ever given about who is making
money out of the war in Vietnam. She gives excellent reasons to boycott many
everyday products that women buy. 20 min.
OPEN FOR CHILDREN One of the first films ever made about the need for
childcare. 35 min.
MAKE IT REAL This is what Newsreel considered an energy film. It contains
great shots of street actions and hot music. This short film was made to
show between our longer films that were "more serious" They were made to
give youth a feeling that they could get up and become "street fighting
men". 8 minutes
MCDONNEL DOUGLAS A film about the Mcdonnel Douglas company and it's
relationship to the war machine? 45 min.
FREE FARM A film made by Newsreel folks that in 1971 went to live in
Vermont. A story about a community free farm on land loaned by a small
college. It tells the story of coming together to farm the land and to have
Sunday community gatherings. The college calls the cops to kick people off
the land in the fall before the harvest and local young men trash the farm.
An interesting note is that the poster the hippies are putting up warn the
community that a local bad cop Paul Lawrence, was setting up and beating up
people. Ten years later he was busted for planting drugs and went to jail.
A true story of hippies with politics. 18 minutes
INCITING TO RIOT A quick montage flirtation with the idea of rural
guerrilla struggle in the US returning repeatedly to the reality of pig power
in the cities and space technology. A flashing image of a state of mind
common among hip and political youth. 10 minutes
DON'T BANK ON AMERICA This is the story of one of the first ecological
political actions of the period, the burning of the Bank of America. (Made
by Peter Biskin and Distributed by Newsreel)
Mighty Mouse and Little Eva This is a 1930's racist cartoon, taking off
on Uncles Tom Cabin. Distributed by Newsreel. 8 Minutes
ICE A film made by Newsreel member Robert Kramer with a production team
made up of Newsreel members. A story of a time in the future when the US is
at war with Mexico and the Americans are living in a police state. The film
includes a kidnapping, a murder, prison break, takeover of an apartment house
for political education, sex, and violence. 150 Minutes (sale needs
special permission)
Order Information
Special $25.00 for two Black Panther films on same tape Off the Pig and
Mayday.
Institution/Library/classroom price is $100.00-$175 plus shipping
Personal use price is $25.00 includes shipping
Special prices for groups of videos.
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