“The story of Miles Davis—who he was as a man and artist—has often been told as the tale of a drug-addled genius,” said director Stanley Nelson. “You rarely see a portrait of a man that worked hard at honing his craft..."
Elaine Brown, who led the Black Panther Party from 1974-1977 and ran for president in 2008, dismantles Nelson’s documentary ‘The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution.’
Formed in 1966, the Black Panther Party for Self Defense remains misunderstood and poorly represented – especially on film. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution tries to sort the fact from fiction.
The films that opened and closed the Human Rights Watch Film Festival - Marc Silver’s 3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets, and Stanley Nelson’s The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution - tell interlocking stories. Although more than four decades separate the events they trace, there is a connection between what happened in the 1960s, when cities exploded in the wake of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther Kiing and discord today.
From master documentarian Stanley Nelson, a treasure of rare archival footage with the voices of the people who were there: police, FBI informants, journalists, white supporters and detractors, Black Panthers loyal to the party and those who left it.
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