Tom Weidlinger's The Long Walk to Freedom follows 12 activists from the Civil Rights movement on a recent visit to a San Francisco high school, where they offer students a living history lesson in story, song, and Q&A sessions. Divided into focused chapters ("The Way It Was," "Why They Got Involved," "Protest," etc.), the brief documentary serves up a respectable primer, enhanced with vivid specifics on the voting-rights marches and the uphill battle of hardships faced by the thousands that this film's dozen speakers (of various races and backgrounds) represent, as familiar stock footage is mixed with moving black-and-white photographs taken at the time by one of the panelists, a professional shutterbug. Ultimately, the quality of the information just barely overcomes the dry, pedestrian presentation, but the DVD's additional material easily makes up the difference: extras include interviews with all 12 activists; an information-rich, remote-navigable historical timeline; student responses accessible from the chapters menu; and a DVD-ROM-accessible teacher's guide in PDF format. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Blackwelder)
The Long Walk to Freedom
(2003) 29 min. VHS: $195, DVD: $225. Bullfrog Films. PPR. Color cover. ISBN: 1-59458-045-6 (vhs), 1-59458-046-4 (dvd). Volume 20, Issue 1
The Long Walk to Freedom
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