History repeats itself, as Chicago Film Archives proves with its May 16 presentation of the sights and sounds of the turbulent week of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
The Cultural Center program, “Out of the Vault: Year of Confrontation,” consists of The Film Group’s Urban Crisis series of three short films and a 60-minute film commissioned by the City of Chicago in response to the unfortunate events of that historic week.
The Film Group was one of Chicago’s busist spot production houses at the time, while its partners were anti-Viet Nam war activists, whose cameras captured the increasing local turbulence.
These early films eerily resonate today, as 2008 is also a presidential election year and the unpopular Iraqi conflict shows no sign of ending.
Each film in the Film Group’s Urban Crisis series is 11 minutes and was finished in 1969.
“The Right to Dissent: A Press Conference” examines the struggle between citizens’ right to express their political views and the limits regulated by the City of Chicago.
“Social Confrontation: The Battle of Michigan Avenue” captures the legal Grant Park gathering of demonstrators that turns into an unruly scene of tear gas and swinging nightsticks when a line of police officers charge the crowd.
“Law and Order vs. Dissent” incorporates interviews with Mayor Daley and various representatives of the police and examines methods of propaganda and political spin.
