The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
classified 15Please note: This was screened in Oct 2015
Change was coming to America and the fault lines could no longer be ignored - cities were burning, Vietnam was exploding, and disputes raged over equality and civil rights. A new revolutionary culture was emerging and it sought to drastically transform the system. The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense would, for a short time, put itself at the vanguard of that change.
The first feature length documentary to explore the Black Panther Party, its significance to American culture, its cultural and political awakening for Black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails. Master documentarian Stanley Nelson goes straight to the source, weaving a treasure trove of rare archival footage with the voices of the people who were there: police, FBI informants, journalists, white supporters and detractors, and Black Panthers who remained loyal to the party and those who left it. Featuring Kathleen Cleaver, Jamal Joseph, and many others, this is an essential history and a vibrant chronicle of this pivotal movement that birthed a new revolutionary culture in America.
Presented as part of Black History Month by Come The Revolution, a collective of curators, programmers and creatives from Bristol and Birmingham committed to exploring and challenging black life, experience and cultural expression through cinema. #ComeTheRev