The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

Last updated

The Black Panthers:
Vanguard of the Revolution
The Black Panthers - Vanguard of the Revolution.jpg
Official film release poster
Directed by Stanley Nelson Jr.
Produced by
  • Laurens Grant
  • Stanley Nelson, Jr.
StarringStu Richel
Cinematography
  • Rick Butler
  • Antonio Rossi
Edited byAljernon Tunsil
Music byTom Phillips
Production
company
Firelight Films
Distributed by PBS Distribution
Release dates
  • January 23, 2015 (2015-01-23)(Sundance)
  • September 2, 2015 (2015-09-02)
Running time
115 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$584,109 [2]

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution is a 2015 American documentary film directed and written by Stanley Nelson Jr. The film combines archival footage and interviews with surviving Panthers and FBI agents to tell the story of the revolutionary black organization the Black Panther Party. It is Nelson Jr.'s eighth film to premiere at Sundance. [3] The film was pitched at Sheffield Doc/Fest's MeetMarket in 2014 and is the first of a three-part series of documentary films about African-American history America Revisited. [4] It will be followed by Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and The Slave Trade: Creating a New World.

Contents

The film premiered on January 23, 2015 at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival before receiving a limited North American theatrical release on September 2, 2015.

Production

The film took seven years to complete. Nelson interviewed over fifty people for the film, with around thirty making it into the final cut. Infamous wiretaps of the Black Panthers were never accessed through the Freedom of Information Act, despite repeated attempts on behalf of the producer. Much of the archival footage used in the film has never been publicly broadcast before, with much time and effort going into locating and digitizing obscure resources. [5]

Critical reception

The film received both acclaim and reproval from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 92% rating based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The site's consensus states: "The Black Panthers: Vanguard Of The Revolution offers a fascinating -- if somewhat rudimentary -- introduction to a movement, and an era, that remains soberingly relevant today." [6] Metacritic reports an 80 out of 100 rating based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [7] The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, describing it as "a strong if only occasionally transporting biography of a movement that terrified the establishment in its day." [8] The Mercury News wrote, "Pulse-pounding...and insightful." [9]

Elaine Brown, a former Black Panther Party leader, criticized the film, writing that it presents "a disparaging portrait of Huey P. Newton" and that Nelson "[excised] from his film the Party's ideological foundation and political strategies, [...] reducing our activities to sensationalist engagements, as snatched from establishment media headlines." [10]

In contrast, Michael Moynihan, writing in The Daily Beast, accused the film of "whitewashing" the politics and activities of the Black Panther Party. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Dogtown and Z-Boys</i> 2001 film by Stacy Peralta

Dogtown and Z-Boys is a 2001 documentary film produced by Agi Orsi and directed by Stacy Peralta. The documentary explores the pioneering of the Zephyr skateboard team in the 1970s and the evolving sport of skateboarding. Using a mix of film of the Zephyr skateboard team (Z-Boys) shot in the 1970s by Craig Stecyk, along with contemporary interviews, the documentary tells the story of a group of teenage surfer/skateboarders and their influence on the history of skateboarding culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PBS Distribution</span> Home video distribution company

PBS Distribution (PBSd), formerly known as PBS Ventures, PBS Home Video, and Public Media Distribution, is the home distribution unit of American television network PBS. The company manages streaming channels, video on demand releases, and sells home videos of PBS series and movies and PBS Kids series in various formats, as well as programming from other public television distributors such as American Public Television and the National Educational Telecommunications Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirby Dick</span> American film director, producer, and screenwriter

Kirby Bryan Dick is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best known for directing documentary films. He received Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary Feature for directing Twist of Faith (2005) and The Invisible War (2012). He has also received numerous awards from film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival and Los Angeles Film Festival.

<i>C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America</i> 2004 mockumentary directed by Kevin Willmott

C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America is a 2004 American mockumentary film written and directed by Kevin Willmott.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley Nelson Jr.</span> American documentary filmmaker

Stanley Earl Nelson Jr. is an American documentary filmmaker and a MacArthur Fellow known as a director, writer and producer of documentaries examining African-American history and experiences. He is a recipient of the 2013 National Humanities Medal from President Obama. He has won three Primetime Emmy Awards.

<i>Scottsboro: An American Tragedy</i> 2001 documentary film

Scottsboro: An American Tragedy is a 2001 American documentary film directed by Daniel Anker and Barak Goodman. The film is based on one of the longest-running and most controversial courtroom pursuits of racism in American history, which led to nine black teenaged men being wrongly convicted of raping a white woman in Alabama. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature. It was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

<i>Burma VJ</i> 2008 Danish film

Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country is a 2008 Danish documentary film directed by Anders Østergaard. It follows the Saffron Revolution against the military regime in Burma. The "VJ" in the title stands for "video journalists." Some of it was filmed on hand-held cameras. The footage was smuggled out of the country, physically or over the Internet. Other parts of it were reconstructed, which caused controversy.

<i>A Film Unfinished</i> 2010 German film

A Film Unfinished is a 2010 documentary film by Yael Hersonski.

<i>Life Itself</i> (2014 film) 2014 American film

Life Itself is a 2014 American biographical documentary film about Chicago film critic Roger Ebert, directed by Steve James and produced by Zak Piper, James and Garrett Basch. The film is based on Ebert's 2011 memoir of the same name. It premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was an official selection at the 67th Cannes Film Festival. The 41st Telluride Film Festival hosted a special screening of the film on August 28, 2014. Magnolia Pictures released the film theatrically in the United States and simultaneously via video on demand platforms on July 4, 2014.

<i>The Square</i> (2013 film) 2013 Egyptian film by Jehane Noujaim

The Square is a 2013 Egyptian-American documentary film by Jehane Noujaim, which depicts the Egyptian Crisis until 2013, starting with the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 at Tahrir Square. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 86th Academy Awards. It also won three Emmy Awards at the 66th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, out of four for which it was nominated.

<i>The Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975</i> 2011 Swedish film

The Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975 is a 2011 Swedish documentary film directed by Göran Olsson, that examines the evolution of the Black Power movement in American society from 1967 to 1975 as viewed through Swedish journalists and filmmakers. It features footage of the movement shot by Swedish journalists in the United States at that time, with appearances by Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, Huey P. Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, and other activists, artists, and leaders central to the movement.

<i>Last Days in Vietnam</i> 2014 film by Rory Kennedy

Last Days in Vietnam is a 2014 American documentary film written, produced and directed by Rory Kennedy. The film had its world premiere at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2014.

<i>What Happened, Miss Simone?</i> 2015 biographical documentary film directed by Liz Garbus

What Happened, Miss Simone? is a 2015 American biographical documentary film about Nina Simone directed by Liz Garbus. The film opened the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. The screening was followed by a tribute performance by John Legend. The film was released by Netflix on June 26, 2015. It was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 88th Academy Awards.

<i>Prophets Prey</i> 2015 American documentary film

Prophet's Prey is a 2015 American documentary directed and written by Amy J. Berg. The film follows Warren Jeffs, the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who is now running the religion from the confines of the Texas state prison, serving out a life sentence, for the rape of young girls. The film is an adaption of the 2011 book of the same name by Sam Brower, who also serves as a producer on the film. Ron Howard serves as an executive producer under his Imagine Entertainment banner.

<i>A Ballerinas Tale</i> 2015 American film

A Ballerina's Tale is a 2015 documentary film revolving around the career of Misty Copeland, who serves as the narrator of the film as well as its subject. The film premiered on April 19, 2015, at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was released through video on demand on October 13, 2015, prior to opening in a limited release on October 14, 2015, by Sundance Selects. A version of it, which is available on the PBS website, was also aired by PBS stations beginning in February 2016. The film received mostly positive reviews.

<i>3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets</i> 2015 American film

3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets, also known as 3 1/2 Minutes, is a 2015 American documentary film written and directed by Marc Silver. The film is based on the events surrounding the 2012 murder of Jordan Russell Davis and examines the shooting itself, as well as the subsequent trial, media coverage and protests that resulted from the shooting.

<i>Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World</i> 2016 American film

Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World is a 2016 American documentary film directed by Werner Herzog. In it, Herzog ponders the existential impact of the Internet, robotics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and more on human life. The film premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and was sponsored by the company NetScout. The film contains interviews with Bob Kahn, Elon Musk, Sebastian Thrun, Ted Nelson, and other leaders of the technology world.

<i>Time</i> (2020 film) 2020 American film

Time is an Academy Award-nominated 2020 American documentary film produced and directed by Garrett Bradley. It follows Sibil Fox Richardson and her fight for the release of her husband, Rob, who was serving a 60-year prison sentence for engaging in an armed bank robbery.

<i>Summer of Soul</i> 2021 documentary film by Questlove

Summer of Soul is a 2021 American independent documentary film about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, directed by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in his directorial debut. It had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 28, 2021, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the documentary categories. It had a limited theatrical release in the U.S. by Searchlight Pictures on June 25, 2021, before expanding and being released for streaming on Hulu the next weekend.

<i>Descendant</i> (2022 film) 2022 American film

Descendant is a 2022 American historical documentary film directed by Margaret Brown, chronicling the story behind Africatown in Alabama, and the descendants of the last known enslaved Africans brought to the United States aboard the Clotilda. The film premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, where it was picked up for wider distribution by Higher Ground Productions and Netflix. It received a theatrical release on October 21, 2022 and was available to stream on Netflix that day as well.

References

  1. ↑ "THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION (15)". British Board of Film Classification . October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (2015)". Box Office Mojo . Internet Movie Database . Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  3. ↑ Canfield, David (January 28, 2015). "Meet the 2015 Sundance Filmmakers #48: Stanley Nelson Showcases the Black Panther Party in New Documentary". Indiewire . Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  4. ↑ Espina, Alfonso (January 29, 2015). "2015 Sundance Film Festival Profile: Stanley Nelson (Director: Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution)". Indiewood/Hollywouldn't. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  5. ↑ "'The Party Had So Often Been Misportrayed': The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution Director Stanley Nelson". Filmmaker . January 22, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  6. ↑ "The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes . Flixster . Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  7. ↑ "The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  8. ↑ DeFore, John (January 23, 2015). "'The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution': Sundance Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Review: Riveting 'Black Panthers' digs deep into civil rights era". The Mercury News. September 28, 2015. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  10. ↑ Brown, Elaine (July 3, 2015). "Ex-Black Panther Leader Elaine Brown Slams Stanley Nelson's 'Condemnable' Documentary". The Daily Beast . Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  11. ↑ Moynihan, Michael (July 26, 2015). "Whitewashing the Black Panthers". The Daily Beast.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.