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Freedom Riders (film)

2010 American historical documentary film

Summary

2010 American historical documentary film

FieldValue
nameFreedom Riders
imageFreedomRiders2010Poster.jpg
captionFilm poster
directorStanley Nelson Jr.
producer{{plainlist
writerStanley Nelson Jr.
studioFirelight Media
distributorInternational Film Circuit
countryUnited States
languageEnglish
released
runtime120 minutes

Freedom Riders is a 2010 American historical documentary film, produced by Firelight Media for the twenty-third season of American Experience on PBS. The film is 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 first aired on May 16, 2011. It was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The film was also featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show program titled, Freedom Riders: 50th Anniversary. Nelson was helped in the making of the documentary by Arsenault and Derek Catsam, an associate professor at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.

In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", making it the seventh film designated in its first year of eligibility, the first in the 2010s, and the most recently released film to be selected until 2011's Pariah was inducted in 2022.

Summary

The film chronicles the story behind hundreds of civil rights activists called Freedom Riders that challenged racial segregation in American interstate transportation during the Civil Rights Movement. The activists traveled together in small interracial groups and sat wherever they chose on buses and trains to compel equal access to terminal restaurants and waiting rooms. They brought the ongoing practice of racial segregation in the southern United States to national attention.

Reception and legacy

Freedom Riders has received generally positive reviews from television critics and parents of young children. Michael Sragow of The Baltimore Sun wrote, "One of the great social epics of our time."

In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It was the first film in the 2010s to be put in the registry.

Awards

  • 2010: Official Selection, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
  • 2010: Official Selection, Maryland Film Festival
  • 2010: Official Selection, Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival
  • 2010: Official Selection, Sundance Film Festival
  • 2011: Heartland Film Festival: Best Documentary Feature
  • 2011: Japan Prize: Welfare Category
  • 2012: Primetime Emmy Award: Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking
  • 2012: Primetime Emmy Award: Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming
  • 2012: Primetime Emmy Award: Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming
  • 2012: Eddie Award: Best Edited Documentary
  • 2012: Writers Guild of America Award: Best Documentary Screenplay: Nominated

References

References

  1. [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/freedomriders/ About the Film] [[Public Broadcasting Service. PBS]].
  2. [http://www.democracynow.org/2011/5/4/50th_anniversary_of_the_first_freedom 50th Anniversary of the First Freedom Ride: New Documentary Recounts Historic 1961 Effort to Challenge Segregated Bus System in the Deep South - Democracy Now!]
  3. (May 6, 2011). "Freedom Riders mark 50 years". [[USA Today]].
  4. [http://www.oprah.com/packages/freedom-riders.html Freedom Rider] [[The Oprah Winfrey Show]].
  5. [http://www.chron.com/life/article/Freedom-Riders-documentary-explores-civil-rights-1587658.php Freedom Riders documentary explores civil rights events - Chron]
  6. Sragow, Michael. (January 4, 2011). "Stanley Nelson earns Writers Guild of America Nomination".
  7. Alter, Rebecca. (2020-12-14). "Shrek Has Been Inducted Into the National Film Registry".
  8. [http://www.trulymovingpictures.org/festival-years/2010/movie/freedom-riders/ Freedom Riders] {{Webarchive. link. (2013-02-20 Truly moving pictures, [[Heartland Film Festival]])
  9. [http://www.nhk.or.jp/jp-prize/english/video_libr/bangumi.html Library List] Retrieved 2013-01-12
  10. [https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000223/2011 IMDb: Emmy Awards for 2011] Retrieved 2012-11-04
  11. [https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000017/2012 IMDb: Eddie Awards for 2011] Retrieved 2012-11-04
  12. [https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000710/2011 IMDb: WGA Awards for 2011] Retrieved 2012-11-04
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

2010-films 2010-documentary-films 2010-american-films 2010s-english-language-films american-documentary-films american-experience documentaries-about-racism documentary-films-about-the-civil-rights-movement films-based-on-non-fiction-books films-directed-by-stanley-nelson-jr. films-set-in-1961 films-set-in-the-1960s freedom-riders primetime-emmy-award–winning-broadcasts united-states-national-film-registry-films english-language-documentary-films
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