[This is an abridged version of the original document. For information on how to
obtain the original version, please contact TWN.]
Introduction
Cynthia Young
Editor
Newsreel, for me, is the constant challenge of facing choices which are at once,
and indissolubly film-making choices, political choices, activist choices, aesthetic
choices.
Norm Fruchter, Newsreel co-founder1
Thirty-one years ago, 60 underground filmmakers and student activists assembled
in New York City to discuss making a film of the Pentagon protest. Angered at the
mainstream media’s misrepresentation of the event, they gathered to consider pooling
their resources in order to create a counter-document of the demonstration. That
December evening, debate raged long into the night. The group considered everything
from what footage should be included to how to distribute the finished product,
recognizing that independent film production necessitated alternative distribution
networks. When the dust finally settled, participants had done much more than iron
out the logistics of a film project; they had founded Newsreel, an organization
that would spark an activist film movement.
Third World Newsreel: Thirty Years of Media and Politics on the Left explores
the rich history of that film collective from its origins in the social movements
of the 1960s to its present day role as an important producer, exhibitor and distributor
of film and video by media-makers of color. Including interviews with Allan Siegel,
Norm Fruchter, and Christine Choy - three of Newsreel’s seminal members - and articles
by renowned film scholars Michael Renov and David James, this anthology provides
new insight into the political battles and aesthetic debates that animated the group.
In one sense, Third World Newsreel is an institutional history, but it
is also much more than that, for the collective’s history has always been intricately
intertwined with the shifts in the US political and cultural landscape. As a result,
this anthology reflects upon the tumultuous political changes that have transformed
the US in the latter half of the twentieth century.
The March on the Pentagon, the draft card riots, the student takeover at Columbia
University, the bombing of Hanoi, the Black Panthers, the Young Lords, Students
for a Democratic Society. The Newsreel lens captured many of the people and events
that defined a decade, and by the beginning of 1968, Newsreel had become the filmmaking
arm of the New Left. Disseminating images and information censored from the nightly
news, Newsreel’s style and subject matter helped to create what critic Michael Renov
has rightly called the “political imaginary of the New Left,” crafting a generation’s
political and cultural agenda.2
Despite the political reversals of the last twenty years, Third World Newsreel has
increased its commitment to social justice and independent media-making. By distributing
award-winning directors Christine Choy, Isaac Julien, Julie Dash, Michelle Parkerson,
J.T. Takagi, and Charles Burnett, and creating avenues for lesser known artists
such as Daresha Kyi, Cyrille Phipps, Cheryl Dunye, Randy Redroad, and Renee Tajima,
the organization has influenced the future direction of independent media.
On the occasion of Third World Newsreel’s 30th anniversary, it seems only fitting
that we celebrate and critically consider the group’s past, present and future impact
on independent media-making and political activism. Long overdue, this anthology
is an invaluable resource for film scholars, artists and media activists, and anyone
interested in the history of US social movements, the development of cutting edge
film and video and the preservation of public access to independent progressive
film and video.
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