Berkeley in the Sixties

Berkeley in the Sixties is a 1990 documentary film by Mark Kitchell.[1][2]

Berkeley in the Sixties
Original film poster
Directed byMark Kitchell
Written bySusan Griffin
Mark Kitchell
Stephen Most
Produced byMark Kitchell
StarringFrank Bardacke
Jentri Anders
John Gage
Jack Weinberg
Jackie Goldberg
Michael Rossman
Bobby Seale
David Hilliard
Ruth Rosen
Suzy Nelson
Barry Melton
John Searle
Mike Miller
Hardy Frye
Susan Griffin
Anne Weills
Narrated bySusan Griffin
CinematographyStephen Lighthill
Edited byVeronica Selver
Music byVarious artists
Distributed byCalifornia Newsreel
Release date
Running time
118 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Summary

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The film highlights the origins of the Free Speech Movement beginning with the May 1960 House Un-American Activities Committee hearings at San Francisco City Hall,[3] the development of the counterculture of the 1960s in Berkeley, California, and ending with People's Park in 1969.[4] The film features 15 student activists and archival footage of Mario Savio, Todd Gitlin, Joan Baez, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Huey Newton, Allen Ginsberg, Gov. Ronald Reagan and the Grateful Dead.[5] The film is dedicated to Fred Cody, founder of Cody's Books. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.[6] It also aired on the PBS series POV.

Critical response

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Rotten Tomatoes assigned the film an approval rating of 100%, based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 8.10/10.[7] Owen Gleiberman from Entertainment Weekly gave it a grade of "A−", writing "The film doesn’t shrink from saying that many of the ’60s social-protest movements went too far. It demonstrates that by the end of the decade, protest had become a narcotic in itself. But only a movie that understands the ’60s as profoundly as this one has truly earned the right to say that."[8]

Awards

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Wins

Nominations

See also

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References

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  1. ^ POV|PBS
  2. ^ Trailer on Vimeo
  3. ^ Perspectives on History|AHA
  4. ^ TV Guide
  5. ^ Maslin, Jane (1990-09-26). "Berkeley: Tie-Dye to Just Ties". Review/Film. The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
  6. ^ Documentary Winners: 1991 Oscars
  7. ^ "Berkeley in the Sixties (1990)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  8. ^ "Berkeley in the Sixties". Entertainment Weekly. November 30, 1990. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  9. ^ 1990 Sundance Film Festival|Archives|Sundance Institute
  10. ^ 1991|Oscars.org

Further reading

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