Columbia Revolt (1968)

Original title

The Columbia Revolt (Newsreel #14)

Directed by

Newsreel

Genre

documentary film

Country

United States

Runtime

59 min

Rating

6.5 of 10 from 2 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This 1968 black-and-white documentary covers the Columbia University protests from inside the student occupied buildings. Filmed by a collective of activist filmmakers, it shows the takeover and negotiations through interviews with unnamed participants.

rawurgentactivistgrittyparticipatoryimmediateobservational

What happens

Columbia Revolt is a 50-minute, black-and-white documentary film about the Columbia University protests of 1968. The film was made that year by a collective of independent filmmakers called Newsreel and mostly shot by Melvin Margolis. It features a number of off-camera interviews with unnamed students who were involved in the takeover of university buildings. According to Roz Payne, a member of the Newsreel collective who worked on the film: The students had taken over 5 buildings. We had a film team in each building. We were shooting from the inside while the rest of the press were outside. We participated in the political negotiations and discussions. Our cameras were used as weapons as well as recording the events. Melvin had a World War II cast iron steel Bell and Howell camera that could take the shock of breaking plate glass windows. The film is sympathetic to the students and is shot in a Cinéma vérité style. It is now in the public domain. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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