Free Virtual Screening of TEACH OUR CHILDREN, part of “Abolition Now! 50 Years of the Attica Prison Uprising”
Series Link: https://www.maysles.org/aboliton-now-50-years-of-the-attica-prison-uprising
Free Streaming from August 30 — September 20, 2021
In July of 1971, the Attica Liberation Faction (ALF), a group of organizers incarcerated at the Attica Correctional Facility in Upstate New York, presented 27 demands to the Commissioner of Corrections and Governor Nelson Rockefeller. The ALF had been leading political education classes on Marx, Lenin, de Bois, and Malcolm X, and their demands pushed largely for improved access to health and medical care, cleaner facilities, greater visitation privileges, and better labor protections for all Attica prisoners. They issued their demands peacefully, and were met with neglect and physical violence.
Drawing on films made from 1971 to the present day, Abolition Now! 50 Years of the Attica Prison Uprising chronicles, commemorates, and politicizes the events of the 1971 uprising and massacre — tracing George Jackson’s influence — through the nonfiction visual representations that came out of it.
TEACH OUR CHILDREN (1971) focuses on the historic 1971 Attica prison rebellion in upstate New York. It targets the conditions that caused prisoners to take drastic steps toward securing their basic rights. The film questions the reactions of prison warden Oswald, New York governor Nelson Rockefeller and President Nixon, as well as the death of 31 inmates and prison guards from bullets fired by the National Guard. Through on-site footage taken during and following the rebellion, and follow-up interviews with inmates, this film relates a powerful message concerning prisoner’s rights and provides an important historical document.
Also Showing:
ATTICA (1972)
PRISON IN 12 LANDSCAPES (2016)
EVIDENCE OF THE EVIDENCE (2018)
Curated by Emily Apter. Co-presented with Third World Newsreel With special thanks to JT Takagi, Nathaniel Moore, Andrea Battleground, Inney Prakash, Annie Horner, NYC-DSA Emerge, The Freedom Archives, and Solidarity Cinema. In Collaboration with Attica Is All of Us, The Freedom Archives, and the Documentary Forum at CCNY. With support from Cinereach, Vital Projects Fund, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the National Film Board of Canada.
