Freedom Riders (film)
Encyclopedia
Freedom Riders is a 2010 American historical documentary film, produced by Firelight Media
for PBS
American Experience
based in part on the book Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice by historian Raymond Arsenault
. Directed by Stanley Nelson, it marked the 50th anniversary of the first Freedom Ride in May 1961 and was first aired on May 16, 2011.
The film chronicles the story behind hundreds of civil rights
activists called the freedom Freedom Riders who challenged the racial segregation
of the American interstate transport and by traveling together in small interracial groups and sitting where they chose on the buses and trains to demand equal access to terminal restaurants and waiting rooms, and to bring racial segregation national attention.
The film is currently used within Firelight Media’s national outreach campaign, to serve as an educational and advocacy tool by NGOs and non-profit partners in order to support young people who are mobilizing around contemporary social issues such as, immigrant rights, youth violence, and environmental issues.
The film was also featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show program titled, Freedom Riders: 50th Anniversary.
Firelight Media
Firelight Media is a non-profit filmmaking company founded by filmmaker Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith, located in New York City. Firelight Media began in 1998 as an independent non-profit documentary production company that produced stories on topics that are typically underrepresented in the...
for PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
American Experience
American Experience
American Experience is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service Public television stations in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American history...
based in part on the book Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice by historian Raymond Arsenault
Raymond Arsenault
Raymond Arsenault is an American historian and academic, and the John Hope Franklin Professor of Southern History and co-director of the Florida Studies Program at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, where he has taught since 1980...
. Directed by Stanley Nelson, it marked the 50th anniversary of the first Freedom Ride in May 1961 and was first aired on May 16, 2011.
The film chronicles the story behind hundreds of civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
activists called the freedom Freedom Riders who challenged the racial segregation
Racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
of the American interstate transport and by traveling together in small interracial groups and sitting where they chose on the buses and trains to demand equal access to terminal restaurants and waiting rooms, and to bring racial segregation national attention.
The film is currently used within Firelight Media’s national outreach campaign, to serve as an educational and advocacy tool by NGOs and non-profit partners in order to support young people who are mobilizing around contemporary social issues such as, immigrant rights, youth violence, and environmental issues.
The film was also featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show program titled, Freedom Riders: 50th Anniversary.
Awards
- 2010: Official Selection, Full Frame Documentary Film FestivalFull Frame Documentary Film FestivalThe Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of non-fiction cinema. Each spring Full Frame welcomes filmmakers and film lovers from around the world to historic downtown Durham, North Carolina for a four-day, morning to midnight...
- 2010: Official Selection, SilverdocsSilverdocsAFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival is an American international film festival created by the American Film Institute and Discovery Channel. It is held every year in Silver Spring, Maryland near Washington, D.C.. Started in 2003, the festival is held for eight days in June at...
Documentary Film Festival - 2010: Official Selection, 2010 Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
- 2010: Primetime Emmy AwardPrimetime Emmy AwardThe Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
: Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking:Nominated - 2010: Heartland Film FestivalHeartland Film FestivalThe Heartland Film Festival is a film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana. First held in 1992, its goal is to "recognize and honor filmmakers whose work explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life."In May 2007, Heartland...
: Best Documentary Feature - 2010: Writers Guild of America Awards 2010Writers Guild of America Awards 2010The 63rd Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best film, television, and videogame writers of 2010. Winners were announced on February 5, 2011.-Best original screenplay:Inception — written by Christopher Nolan; Warner Bros....
: Best documentary feature screenplay: Nominated
Further reading
- Arsenault, RaymondRaymond ArsenaultRaymond Arsenault is an American historian and academic, and the John Hope Franklin Professor of Southern History and co-director of the Florida Studies Program at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, where he has taught since 1980...
. (2006) Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice New York: Oxford University Press.
External links
- Freedom Riders, Online PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
- Freedom Riders, website