INSURGENT CINEMA: A Weekend of Documentaries About Radical Political Resistance Groups

INSURGENT CINEMA: A WEEKEND OF DOCUMENTARIES ABOUT RADICAL POLITICAL RESISTANCE GROUPS OF THE 60s & 70s. Screenings (of 6 films) will be held at Husets Biograf, Magstræde 14, over the afternoons of September 6 & 7.

Ticket price is 50kr. which is good for all shows over both afternoons. To make reservations contact: jack.stevenson@mail.dk

SATURDAY

06.09 at 13.00: THE ANGRY BRIGADE, 1974, a 65 minute BBC documentary directed by Gordon Carr / With anarchist ideals and situationist-inspired tactics, this urban guerilla group put the ruling class on notice with a series of bloodless bombings, while a clueless police campaign against it drew a dragnet through the UK anarchist community. This documentary links the movement to other radical groups of the time, such as The Baader Meinhof gang in Germany and the Weather Underground in America. Introduced by the dean of the British anarchist movement, Stuart Christie, it provides - despite being couched in an establishment perspective – an understanding of what was the most prominent of the British insurgent/resistance groups. Without the usual command structures, this (dis)organization was hard to pin down, let alone identify. As one Angry Brigade message read: “we were invincible … they could not jail us for we did not exist.” Another communique stated: “We are getting closer. We are slowly destroying the long tentacles of the oppressive State Machine … The Angry Brigade is the man or woman sitting next to you. They have guns in their pockets and hatred in their minds. We are getting closer…”

FOLLOWED BY:

PERSONS UNKNOWN, 1980, a (short) BBC documentary again directed by Gordon Carr. This film follows the fate of Stuart Christie through the 70’s as his political views repeatedly bring him into conflict with the authorities. Peace of sorts is finally obtained via a hermit like existence on a remote Scottish island where he publishes his underground anarchist paper.


At 15.00: THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND
Thirty years ago a group of young American radicals announced their intention to overthrow the U.S. government. Fuelled by outrage over the Vietnam War and racism in America, they went underground during the 1970s, bombing targets across the country that they felt symbolized "the real violence" that the U.S. government and capitalist powers were wreaking throughout the world. From pitched battles with police on Chicago's city streets, to bombing the U.S. Capitol building, to breaking acid-guru Timothy Leary out of prison, this carefully organized clandestine network attempted to incite a national revolution, while successfully evading one of the largest FBI manhunts in history. One of the top documentaries of 2003, this award-winning film interweaves extensive archival material with modern-day interviews to explore the incredible story of The Weather Underground. As former members reflect candidly about the idealistic passion that drove them to "bring the war home," they paint a compelling portrait of troubled and revolutionary times, with unexpected and often striking connections to the current world situation. The film also delves into related movements, such as The Black Panthers and their relationship with The Weather Underground.


SUNDAY:

07-09 at 13.30: KNOW YOUR ENEMY: THE VIET CONG - 1968, 18min., by the U.S. Army. One of the most inspiring stories of a resistance group in the 60’s took place not in a city but in the countryside of Vietnam as primitively armed ‘peasant soldiers’ took on the world’s most powerful military – and won. Via much captured enemy footage, this US-Army produced film tries to illustrate for American soldiers what they were up against; in short a determined, courageous and resourceful opponent.

FOLLOWED BY:
EL PUEBLO SE LEVANTA (THE YOUNG LORDS FILM) – 1971, 42 minutes, by The Newsreel Group. By the 1960s one-third of the population of Puerto Rican had moved to the United States in search of the American dream, drawn by US propaganda that promised them a better life. Instead they found slum housing, poor education, low-paying jobs and constantly rising unemployment in a society that was determined to destroy their cultural identity. This 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 were using to make significant advances in the Puerto Rican struggle. The film deals with the main problems in the Puerto Rican community-health, education, food, and housing, and how The Young Lords Party, which had been born from a Chicago street gang that became increasingly more political, took up the cause of their people.

At 15.00: GUERRILLA - THE TAKING OF PATTY HEARST, 2004, 90 minutes
"Death to the fascist insect that preys on the life of the people!" declared the Symbionese Liberation Army, the domestic black liberation American “terrorist group” that kidnapped newspaper heiress Patty Hearst in the mid-70s and demanded a massive food program for the poor in exchange for her release. Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst examines this sensational case in a objective and measured tone. The SLA was born in the crucible of the Vietnam War and Kent State, but the documentary neither forgives nor condemns their actions (which include bank robbery, bombings, and murder). The SLA and the media hysteria that surrounded them held America in the grip of fear and fascination for two whole years and included the torching of a safe-house in L.A. that resulted in numerous deaths. Using interviews with reporters and surviving members of the SLA, footage from news reports and Hollywood movies, director Robert Stone (Radio Bikini) has crafted a smart, suspenseful thriller that mesmerizes.