Social Issues in Film Series Presents “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution” Nov. 2

VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University’s 2016-2017 Social Issues in Film Series will present “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2, in Nevins Hall Room 1061. Admission to the screening is free of charge and open to all students, faculty, staff, retirees, alumni, and friends of the university.

“The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution” studies the history of the Black Panther Party, formed in the 1960s, and is presented by the Public Broadcasting Service. Written, directed, and produced by Emmy Award-winning Stanley Nelson, the film is recognized as the first feature length documentary to explore the party’s significance in American culture.

“It is essential to me as a filmmaker to try and give the viewer a sense of what it has meant to be black in America and consider this within our contemporary context,” according to Nelson’s online director’s statement. “The legacy of the Black Panther Party had a lasting impact on the way black people think and see ourselves, and it is important that we look at and understand that.”

“The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in September 2015 and has since earned three film awards and six nominations. The movie’s synopsis describes the film as “an essential history and a vibrant chronicle of this pivotal movement that birthed a new revolutionary culture in America.”

Dr. Lorna Alvarez-Rivera, Dr. Tom Hochschild, Dr. Anne Price, and Dr. Shelly Yankovsky, faculty members in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice, sponsor VSU’s annual Social Issues in Film Series. 

Contact Dr. Tom Hochschild at trhochschild@valdosta.edu to learn more.

On the Web:
 
http://www.valdosta.edu/colleges/arts-sciences/sacj
 
http://theblackpanthers.com/home/