SCREENINGS

BEST DOCUMENTARY NOMINATION Academy Award (1991)
SPECIAL JURY AWARD
San Francisco International Film Festival (1991)

In the late 1930s, Spain was embroiled in a civil war which prefigured the conflicts of World War II. A significant number of idealistic young Americans were appalled by the involvement of fascists and Nazis in that war and rushed to join a special unit fighting on the Republican side against them, called "The Abraham Lincoln Brigade." Public-spirited people of all political persuasions actively supported these efforts at the time, but in the McCarthy era of the late 1940s and early 1950s, the brigade was condemned because it had contained communists, and those who fought in it were blacklisted and even imprisoned.

Forever Activists explores the subsequent careers of a number of those who fought in this famous group, including a 50th-anniversary reunion in Spain in 1986. Despite the hardships they endured, these aging political activists continued their activism in the U.S., and were involved in the Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-Vietnam War Movement, among other causes. The members, many of whom are Jewish and now in their seventies and eighties, retrace their steps on the old battlefields of Spain. Spanish Civil War buffs will be intrigued by footage of La Passionaria (a very prominent Republican figure in the conflict) both during the war and during the 50th-anniversary reunion.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM

"... a visually powerful film that helps us understand the meaning of citizenship in 20th century America. Through the prism of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, by following the lives of these remarkable individuals through 50 years of struggle, we gain a deep insight into American history, society and politics."
- Robert N. Bellah, Professor of Sociology, University of California/Berkeley

PURCHASE DVD

HOME USE ONLY

$25.00 plus shipping
Home Use Only DVD (Not for Classroom/Institutional Use)

Does not include Public Performance Rights
Home Use Policy (pdf)

INSTITUTIONAL USE

$90.00 plus shipping
Classroom/Institutional Use Only DVD

Does not include Public Performance Rights
Institutional Use Policy (pdf)

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Forever Activists!
Stories from the Veterans of Abraham Lincoln Brigade

USA, 1991, 60 minutes, Color
Directed by Judith Montell

$90 Institutional Use DVD
Buy Now

$25 Home Use DVD
Buy Now

Public Exhibition 16mm, Beta Rental also available



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