Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival

DIRECTOR: Stanley Nelson | USA | 2015 | 113min

As police killings of African-American men trigger US-wide protests, it’s never been more important to revisit the revolutionary spirit of the 1960s. Then change seemed unstoppable, civil rights were a popular priority and The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, at the crest of this uprising, stood for the protection of the disenfranchised in general, and people of colour in particular. Nelson, a master of historical documentary, presents a rousing primer to the movement, its leaderships and enduring ideals, through a boundless wealth of meticulously assembled archive footage that transports us into the inner sanctums, the marches, the rallies, the shake-downs and the streets where the Panthers took over the public imagination by demanding all power for all people. A struggle that is far from over.