Not having grown up during the civil rights movement, and with only a cursory high school education on the subject, Freedom Riders was an informative, educational, even revelatory documentary. Having a balanced mix of talking head interviews and archival footage, this film could almost be defined as perfection - if you're looking for a straight-faced, straightforward, PBS style documentary. The final picture and sound lock was reached only last week, as the filmmakers prepared for Sundance, and look forward to the 50th anniversary of the events discussed in the film. Approaching topics of law, the constitution, religion, politics, even delving into the relationship between JFK, RFK, and MLK, this film showed depth worthy of extreme admiration. It even provided an alternate view of MLK, showing a personal, flawed perspective of someone we revere as a modern day hero, in addition to providing personal interviews with people of all ranges and all perspectives. The most surprising being the direct, straight-faced interview with former Governor Patterson, hailed as the most bigoted, offensive opposing force to the civil rights movement. Again, Freedom Riders was a direct documentary, authoritative and a defining document on the civil rights movement, worth watching if you want to learn more about the path to civil equality in the United States.
In attendance: Director Stanley Nelson, producers Laurens Grant, Stacey Holman, and Lewanne Jones, writer of the original book Raymond Arsenault, and several of the original freedom riders
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1/26/2010
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