As a member of the Newsreel collective of film makers in the
Sixties/seventies I have been the collector and archivist of the films and
documents. You can check out the list of films we have on my web page
www.artvt.com/p_payne.htm
Lots of teachers have been getting their media centers, libraries, and
department to buy a collection of the films on video. If any one is
interested please write me
roznews@aol.com
Here is a list of the films we have.
Roz Payne Video/ Film Archives
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
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
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, Judge
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? One of the first
simply made ecology films. l971 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
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
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 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 WAR 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
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. Made
by John Douglas and Tom Griffin l965 30 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. Made by Norm Fructer and Robert Machover distributed by
Newsreel 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
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 Made by the Chinese
and distributed by Newsreel. 42 minutes
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
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. This film was distributed by Newsreel but
not made by Newsreel. 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
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS A film about the Mcdonnell 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
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)
<<I am putting together a course for next semester on the 60s in Film. I have
some ideas, does anyone have any suggestions for favorite theme films, or
syllabi already for such a course thanks in advance, Bob>>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Oct 16 2001 - 19:23:19 EDT