During the 1960s and ‘70s, Madeline Anderson broke racial and gender barriers in nonfiction filmmaking through her work as a director, producer, and editor. This compilation of three of her short documentaries offers a fascinating look at how Anderson used her medium to spotlight the tumultuous fights for both civil rights and women’s rights. Integration Report 1 (1960) examines the challenges that faced African Americans in both the Jim Crow South (particularly with the lunch counter sit-ins) and in supposedly liberal New York City (where white parents pulled their children from a Queens school that was integrated with black children from neighboring Brooklyn). A Tribute to Malcolm X (1967) offers a cogent (if too brief) overview of the provocative civil rights leader’s views on race relations, including his explanation of controversial remarks made after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, along with an interview with his widow Betty Shabazz. The titular I Am Somebody (1970) is Anderson’s finest work, an invigorating study of African American women hospital workers in Charleston, SC, who went on strike for wages above the $1.30 per hour they were earning. The film offers remarkable insights into how the strike was organized, capturing the uncomfortable reactions from white politicians as the walkout became a national issue. Extras include an interview with Anderson, a featurette on the union leader who commissioned Anderson to make I Am Somebody, and a booklet. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)
I Am Somebody: Three Films by Madeline Anderson
(2018) 65 min. DVD: $29.98 ($248 w/PPR from www.icarusfilms.com). Icarus Films Home Video (available from most distributors). Closed captioned. Volume 33, Issue 4
I Am Somebody: Three Films by Madeline Anderson
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