THE UNAPOLOGETIC LIFE OF MARGARET RANDALL
Price: $310.00 Code: 2050 |
Directed by Lu Lippold
2002, color, 60 mins.
Purchase: $310 Classroom Rental: $125
This portrait of Margaret Randall—activist, poet, writer, teacher and photographer—comes at a particularly appropriate time, as patriotism is being equated in some quarters with keeping silent about important issues. Randall, who has authored more than eighty books, has always believed in speaking out, and she has spent half a century—living in New York, Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Albuquerque—doing and saying exactly as she felt. Her essays, oral histories and critiques of U.S. foreign policy have made her a key mediator between the U.S. and Central America, carrying news of the arts and people's lives back and forth between cultures. The video gives an unsparing yet sympathetic view of a woman whom the FBI in the Eighties considered a dangerous subversive and tried to deport because of her "anti-American" books, and who had to sue the U.S. government to retain her American citizenship. It includes fascinating footage of Randall's life throughout the years, including her affairs and marriages, the toll that her cultural-political activities took on the lives of her four children, and her immigration trial for her controversial views. Both funny and tragic, the video examines how a person's political convictions affect those near and dear.
The Unapologetic Life of Margaret Randall not only captures Margaret's singularity but also skillfully links her life to the general aspirations of a political era euphemistically called the Sixties. --Dan Georgakas,Cineaste
2002, color, 60 mins.
Purchase: $310 Classroom Rental: $125
This portrait of Margaret Randall—activist, poet, writer, teacher and photographer—comes at a particularly appropriate time, as patriotism is being equated in some quarters with keeping silent about important issues. Randall, who has authored more than eighty books, has always believed in speaking out, and she has spent half a century—living in New York, Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Albuquerque—doing and saying exactly as she felt. Her essays, oral histories and critiques of U.S. foreign policy have made her a key mediator between the U.S. and Central America, carrying news of the arts and people's lives back and forth between cultures. The video gives an unsparing yet sympathetic view of a woman whom the FBI in the Eighties considered a dangerous subversive and tried to deport because of her "anti-American" books, and who had to sue the U.S. government to retain her American citizenship. It includes fascinating footage of Randall's life throughout the years, including her affairs and marriages, the toll that her cultural-political activities took on the lives of her four children, and her immigration trial for her controversial views. Both funny and tragic, the video examines how a person's political convictions affect those near and dear.
Subjects & Collections
Reviews
Highly Recommended "...a well-produced and visually appealing video...it captures the sense of quantity and quality of Randall's creative output...The filmmakers have effectively chosen a balance between the personal and the professional to present a sympathetic, but not uncritical, portrait of a modern American activist and artist." - Educational Media Reviews OnlineThe Unapologetic Life of Margaret Randall not only captures Margaret's singularity but also skillfully links her life to the general aspirations of a political era euphemistically called the Sixties. --Dan Georgakas,Cineaste