HERE COME THE VIDEOFREEX
Price: $350.00 Code: 2531 |
Directed by Jon Nealon and Jenny Raskin
2015, 78 minutes
Purchase: $350 | Classroom rental: $125
Call us at 212-685-6242 for special non-profit, public library, and K-12 pricing.
Here Come the Videofreex tells the enthralling story of a pioneering collective of video journalists known as the Videofreex who in the 60s and 70s became the forerunners of public access television and the modern internet news era as they deployed the first handheld video cameras to report and observe the world around them.
When the Anti-War, Black Power, and Women's Movements take to the streets, the Videofreex are part of the action, capturing the revolution on tape and hosting weekly screenings in their SoHo loft. During this time, the Videofreex truly coalesce as a collective. Living and working together, they find their own voices as artists and journalists. And despite the absence of women behind the camera in mainstream media, the women of the Videofreex are shooting and directing their own pieces from their own points of view, working side by side with their male counterparts– a demonstration of equality rare at the time.
Composed of a treasure trove of restored tapes shot by the Freex, including interviews with icons like murdered Black Panther Fred Hampton and legendary activist Abbie Hoffman, charting the path of this underground video collective from their assignment on the counterculture beat for CBS News to their rupture with the network and creation of a radical pirate television station in upstate New York, the film captures the pure enthusiasm and revolutionary use of technology of the Videofreex as they changed the nature of journalism through the power of portable video, forging a legacy that has evolved to become today’s all-access media environment.
*Official Selection, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
*Official Selection, BAMcinemafest
*Official Selection, Durban International Film Festival
"Concise and informative." - The New York Times
"Can't-miss viewing for culture heads. This doc's 78-minute running time boasts an hour or so of vital, full-blooded, way-too-rare video footage of America's crackup as the Sixties crashed into the Seventies." - Village Voice
"A provocative documentary look at one of the many revolutions of the American Sixties. Here Come the Videofreex points the way to the participatory democracy the technology made possible for anyone who was interested. " - East Bay Express
"Directed by Jenny Raskin and Jon Nealon, the film also contains startling footage of anti-Vietnam protests and women’s liberation marches that — unlike most of what we see of the battles on the streets of America’s cities — was shot from the vantage of the participants. Here is where the revolutionary fervour of the era intersects with the journalistic and artistic possibilities of the newly introduced technology of video."– Toronto Star
"A vital historical record of the foundations of our current media age." - Hammer To Nail
"Highly Recommended. The film tells the story not only of the collective, but also a disruptive piece of technology and the social upheaval of the times. The immediacy of a particular moment in time as it was captured on videotape is exceptional." – Educational Media Reviews Online
"A group who in many ways prefigure the citizen reporters who video via social media, this is recommended." – Video Librarian
Recommended. "An engaging, insightful look at those confusing times." - Library Journal
2015, 78 minutes
Purchase: $350 | Classroom rental: $125
Call us at 212-685-6242 for special non-profit, public library, and K-12 pricing.
Here Come the Videofreex tells the enthralling story of a pioneering collective of video journalists known as the Videofreex who in the 60s and 70s became the forerunners of public access television and the modern internet news era as they deployed the first handheld video cameras to report and observe the world around them.
When the Anti-War, Black Power, and Women's Movements take to the streets, the Videofreex are part of the action, capturing the revolution on tape and hosting weekly screenings in their SoHo loft. During this time, the Videofreex truly coalesce as a collective. Living and working together, they find their own voices as artists and journalists. And despite the absence of women behind the camera in mainstream media, the women of the Videofreex are shooting and directing their own pieces from their own points of view, working side by side with their male counterparts– a demonstration of equality rare at the time.
Composed of a treasure trove of restored tapes shot by the Freex, including interviews with icons like murdered Black Panther Fred Hampton and legendary activist Abbie Hoffman, charting the path of this underground video collective from their assignment on the counterculture beat for CBS News to their rupture with the network and creation of a radical pirate television station in upstate New York, the film captures the pure enthusiasm and revolutionary use of technology of the Videofreex as they changed the nature of journalism through the power of portable video, forging a legacy that has evolved to become today’s all-access media environment.
Subjects & Collections
Cinema Studies Women's Studies 2016 Cultural Studies American Studies Media Studies American History Directed by Women
Festivals & Awards
*Official Selection, International Film Festival Rotterdam*Official Selection, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
*Official Selection, BAMcinemafest
*Official Selection, Durban International Film Festival
Reviews
"Should become mandatory viewing in journalism schools. The film delivers an illuminating and moving portrait of these largely unknown, intrepid renegade journalists who were the forerunners of both public access television and the contemporary freelance reporting that has become the bedrock of countless news outlets." - The Hollywood Reporter"Concise and informative." - The New York Times
"Can't-miss viewing for culture heads. This doc's 78-minute running time boasts an hour or so of vital, full-blooded, way-too-rare video footage of America's crackup as the Sixties crashed into the Seventies." - Village Voice
"A provocative documentary look at one of the many revolutions of the American Sixties. Here Come the Videofreex points the way to the participatory democracy the technology made possible for anyone who was interested. " - East Bay Express
"Directed by Jenny Raskin and Jon Nealon, the film also contains startling footage of anti-Vietnam protests and women’s liberation marches that — unlike most of what we see of the battles on the streets of America’s cities — was shot from the vantage of the participants. Here is where the revolutionary fervour of the era intersects with the journalistic and artistic possibilities of the newly introduced technology of video."– Toronto Star
"A vital historical record of the foundations of our current media age." - Hammer To Nail
"Highly Recommended. The film tells the story not only of the collective, but also a disruptive piece of technology and the social upheaval of the times. The immediacy of a particular moment in time as it was captured on videotape is exceptional." – Educational Media Reviews Online
"A group who in many ways prefigure the citizen reporters who video via social media, this is recommended." – Video Librarian
Recommended. "An engaging, insightful look at those confusing times." - Library Journal
Trailer
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