In the wake of
September 11, 2001, and on the brink of War with Iraq,
"Berkley in the Sixties" provides a fascinating portrait
of a nation in the 1960's that can be in some ways
compared to the America we inhabit today.
Producer Mark
Kitchell spent six years compiling footage from local TV
stations and conducting numerous interviews with the
leaders of the the Free Speech, Civil rights, Anti-Vietnam
and Women's rights movements. The event-filled
documentary traces both the euphoric rise of student
activism and the forces that were suppressing the very
rights this movement was fighting for. Kitchell
provides detail accounts from the leaders that were on the
forefront of a revolution much bigger than they would ever
have imaged.
With the
inclusion of old television footage, Kitchell was able to
compose an extraordinary job of capturing: The House
Un-American Activities Committee protests, the birth of
hippies, the Vietnam War Marches, the rise of the Black
Panther Party, the start of the women's movement, and the
battles over "People's Park."
The revolutionary
movements on Berkley's campus provided a small microcosm
of the turbulent times that we as Americans faced together
during the 1960's. Activists like Black Panther
Party founder Bobby Seale revel how the Black Panther
Party movement propelled its influence on the white
left-wringers at Berkley and campus's across America.
Kitchell's
inclusion of footage of then California Gov. Ronald Reagan
lashing out at the very freedoms that he would later as
President of the United States advocate for was
extraordinary!
The coalition of
young counter-culture activists working together to fight
for something greater than themselves is something our
country has not seen since the 1960's. "Berkley in
the Sixties" reminds us all that personal and social
change starts with an idea and can involve into an
revolution when aided by a generation willing to die for a
cause! Timely advice as we are about to embark on a
different type of change in America today.
Pure
Movie Reviews