Black Panthers

While her husband Jacques Demy was in L. A. filming MODEL SHOP (1969), Agnes Varda was in Oakland Directing this Documentary short centered on the protests trying to free Black Panther leader Huey Newton (who is interviewed in prison). The resulting film is an interesting 'you are there' look at the group.

Varda and her team got incredible access to document the group (and not just their protests). Members speak directly to the camera and without filter. There is no question that Varda's sympathies lie with the Panthers. An unidentified American woman narrates (surprising that her name has never been revealed). It's simple and straightforward, but, always tilted in favor of the group.

Originally, this was supposed to air on French TV, but, the government got cold feet over the incendiary image of the Panthers and didn't broadcast it. The short has been beautifully restored and looks and sounds fantastic. The 16mm footage retains it's verite feel, but, the restoration is so fine one swears it could be 35mm.

Streaming on Criterion and other outlets; Also available on DVD.

Since Agnès Varda died recently, I decided to watch two of her short documentaries filmed in the San Francisco Bay Area. One is "Uncle Yanco", about her relative in Sausalito. But the more important one is "Black Panthers". This half-hour doc focuses on a Black Panther rally in Oakland in August, 1968. The main purpose of the rally is to call for the release of Huey Newton, in jail on charges of killing a cop. But the rally touches on a number of other things: police brutality towards the black community, the Vietnam War, and calls for worldwide unity against imperialism. In fact, one interviewee lays out several demands that the black community is making in its call for justice (freedom, decent housing, well-paying jobs, good education, etc). There's also an interview with Newton in jail, where he details the horrible treatment that he experiences.

Contrary to what a lot of people like to say, the Black Power Movement was not about "hating white people". It was about teaching the black community to defend itself and recognize the beauty in, among other things, natural hair. The Black Lives Matter movement is the heir to this.

Definitely watch this doc.

In 1968 the Black Panther Party (BPP) was at its most active and probably its height of popularity. This very brief documentary has several interviews/speeches which give a quick glimpse into what the BPP was demanding. There is footage of Kathleen Cleaver, Stokely Carmichael, and Huey Newton (one of the founders of the BPP). Kathleen and Stokely are two very well-spoken civil rights activists, or freedom fighters if you dare, and that is evident in this short documentary. At the time of this documentary Huey P. Newton, , was locked up for getting into a shootout with police. There is a little commentary from the documentarian, Agnes Varda, but just about everything else comes from the mouths of the Panthers themselves.

Black Panthers (original title) is listed by IMDb with the title "Huey" (1968). However, we saw it with the original title. This half-hour documentary was directed by the French filmmaker Agnès Varda.

Varda went to a Black Panther rally in Oakland. The Panthers were demanding that the government free Huey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther party. Newton was on trial, accused of murdering a police officer.

Beside filming the rally itself, Varda filmed an interview with Newton himself while he was in jail, In addition, she interviewed or recorded H. Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seale, and Eldridge Cleaver.

The Black Panthers Party was a revolutionary party, and they made no secret of the necessity to use violence to obtain their goals. They considered themselves at war with the Oakland Police Department. (Probably, the feeling was mutual.)

This is a historically important movie, especially for those who aren't old enough to remember the events of the late 1960's. It's also a lesson in the craft of documentary filmmaking, as exemplified by Agnès Varda. I would sum it up as "speak softly, but get the footage you need."

We saw this film at the wonderful Dryden Theatre in the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY. It's part of a Varda retrospective, co-sponsored by Rochester Institute of Technology and the Eastman Museum. I'm sure it will work well on the small screen.

P.S. Newton was eventually convicted of manslaughter, but a higher court overturned the verdict. He had two more trials, both of which ended in hung juries. Ultimately, the government gave up.

For any younger person such as myself who wasn't alive during the 60's and it's numerous radical movements, "Black Panthers" is a good historical piece of film. Vardas is definitely not objective here and is clearly rooting for the Black Panthers, but I can't really blame her when the opposition is the FBI and Oakland police.

Behind all the dry summaries and articles about the Black Panthers is a truly revolutionary spirit of an oppressed people. This film does a wonderful job capturing that spirit during one of the more important times for the Black Panthers, which was the trial of Huey Newton. I especially appreciated the extended interview of Huey Newton himself while he was in jail, footage of the underappreciated Stokely Carmicheal who was one of the more intellectual figures, and the focus on woman in the Black Panther party.

I wish there was more of a focus on differing parties in the movie, like the cops or white reactionaries. Not so the film could claim to be objective but because the claims of the Black Panthers (racism, fascism,etc.) could be shown as context for their rallies. In addition, there isn't much actual filmmaking shown here, just that a team was present. I would suggest the amazing "Harlan County" for a documentary that shows the spirit and soul of the movement, not just by showing up, but through filmmaking skills.

Overall it's a good visualizer of an interesting and important part of radical history in the U.S.