Berkeley in the Sixties

Director: Mark Kitchell

Institute History

Description

Berkeley, a hotbed of protest in the sixties, was a microcosm of the turbulent rise and fall of that era's student movement. Within that crucible of change simmered the issues and ideas that moved a generation and changed the profile of American history.

Mark Kitchell's Berkeley In the Sixties chronicles that journey of change with a dense weave of archival footage, a cast of thousands—including Ronald Reagan, Martin Luther King, Huey Newton, Mario Salvia, Joan Baez, Allen Ginsberg and The Grateful Dead—and present-day interviews with fifteen activists from that era. Beginning with a demonstration in 1960 against the House Un-American Activities Committee, in which students are hosed and dragged away by police, through the climactic confrontation between police and the people over People's Park in 1969 (in which one man is killed, and then Governor Reagan sends in soldiers, who surround the rally while a helicopter drops nausea gas), the film unfolds the decade's events with an impressive sense of immediacy. The initial demonstration against HUAC attracted activists from around the country to the University of California's radicalized campus, and throughout the sixties, they fueled the various movements of the time: civil rights, free speech and antiwar.

Captured are the transformations and phenomenon, including the impact of hippies and Black Panthers. Kitchell probes the changes in the movement which led to its eventual decline, but insists that its legacy continues to affect us today.


Saturday, January 20 10:30 a.m.
Holiday Village Cinema I

Tuesday, January 23 10:00 p.m.
Holiday Village Cinema III

Friday, January 26 1:00 p.m.
Holiday Village Cinema III

Saturday, January 27 10:00 a.m.
Holiday Village Cinema III

$5.00

— Robert Hawk

Screening Details

Sundance Film Festival Awards

Credits

As you use our Online Archives, please understand that the information presented from Festivals, Labs, and other activities is taken directly from official publications from each year. While this information is limited and doesn't necessarily represent the full list of participants (e.g. actors and crew), it is the list given to us by the main film/play/project contact at the time, based on the space restrictions of our publications. Each entry in the Online Archives is meant as a historical record of a particular film, play, or project at the time of its involvement with Sundance Institute. For this reason, we can only amend an entry if a name is misspelled, or if the entry does not correctly reflect the original publication. If you have questions or comments, please email [email protected]