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BDC SCREENING OF MEMBERS FILMS AT ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES

Invited Film: “761st”

Synopsis

The 761 was the first unit to enlist African-American soldiers to
operate armored vehicles. What the Tuskegee Airmen were to the skies,
the 761st was to land, as they were requested by General George S.
Patton to assist with heavy fighting during the Battle of the Bulge in
WWII. The soldiers of the 761st Tank Battalion fought for 183
consecutive days, in six countries, and with great success despite a
fifty-percent causality rate. They were commonly referred to as
“Eleanor Roosevelt’s Niggers”, but proved themselves to be America’s
Men in what we now call the “Greatest Generation”.

Despite these undeniable accomplishments, the 761st Tank Battalion
would not receive their due credit until April 20, 1978 when President
Carter issued the Presidential Unit Citation to them. It took 52
years before Staff Sergeant Ruben Rivers would be awarded a posthumous
Congressional Medal of Honor (January 13, 1997) in a ceremony presided
over by President Clinton.

In “761st,” eleven of these great soldiers recount their experience in
the United States Army, fighting for a freedom overseas that they did
not enjoy in America.

Total Running Time: 72 minutes
Executive Producer: Steven White
Director: Pete Chatmon

Features :
Exclusive interviews with 11 combat veterans of the 761st,
General Colin Powell, and others. Narrated by Andre Braugher

DATE: Wednesday, October 17, 2007
TIME: 6:00 PM
LOCATION: Anthology Film Archives
32 2ND AVENUE (at 2nd Street)

$5.00 Admission!

****Please note with the price of admission you are welcome to stay
for the remainder of the the evenings programs:

8:00PM NEWFILMMAKERS SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Naima Lowe BIRTHMARKS (2007, 30 Minutes, 16MM)

BIRTHMARKS is an experimental nonfiction film by Naima Lowe featuring
her father, Bill Lowe. The film tells the story of the series of small
darks scars on Bill’s back that he got when the Newark Police beat him
up in 1967, and the ways that fathers and daughters create beauty out
of trauma, and art out of living.

8:45PM NEWFILMMAKERS FEATURE PRESENTATION

Carl Ford REAL WITH ME (2006, 83 Minutes, 35MM)