''Children of the Revolution'' is a 2010 documentary by Irish filmmaker

Shane O'Sullivan Shane O'Sullivan may refer to: * Shane O'Sullivan (hurler) * Shane O'Sullivan (filmmaker) Shane O'Sullivan (born 1969) is an Irish writer and filmmaker based in London. He is best known for his work on the assassination of Robert Kennedy. His f ...

about

Ulrike Meinhof Ulrike Marie Meinhof (7 October 1934 – 9 May 1976) was a German left-wing journalist and founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF) in West Germany, commonly referred to in the press as the "Baader-Meinhof gang". She is the reputed author ...

and

Fusako Shigenobu is a Japanese Communism, communist activist and founder of the disbanded militant group Japanese Red Army (JRA).

, leaders of the German

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (RAF, ; , ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang (, , active 1970–1998), was a West German far-left Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group founded in 1970. The ...

and the

Japanese Red Army The was a militant communist organization active from 1971 to 2001. It was designated a terrorist organization by Japan and the United States. The JRA was founded by Fusako Shigenobu and Tsuyoshi Okudaira in February 1971 and was most active i ...

. Inspired by the student revolutions of 1968 and appalled by the killing in Vietnam, Meinhof and Shigenobu set out to destroy capitalist power through world revolution. They travelled to the Middle East to train with Palestinian militants and, alongside

Leila Khaled Leila Khaled ( ar, ليلى خالد, born April 9, 1944) is a Palestinian refugee, terrorist, and member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Khaled came to public attention for her role in the TWA Flight 840 hijacking ...

, became the leading female revolutionaries of their time. Authors and journalists Bettina Röhl and Mei Shigenobu explore the lives of their mothers, Ulrike and Fusako, providing a unique perspective on two of the most notorious freedom fighters in contemporary history. On the run or kidnapped when their mothers went underground, Mei and Bettina emerged from difficult childhoods to lead their own extraordinary lives. They reflect on their mothers' actions as the film asks: what were they fighting for and what have we learned. Shot in Tokyo, Beirut, Jordan and Germany, the film tells the stories of Meinhof and Shigenobu through the eyes of Mei and Bettina, using rare archive footage of student protests and guerilla training camps in Germany, Japan and the Middle East. The film premiered at the

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam. Over a period of twelve days, it has screened more than 300 films and sold more than 250,000 tic ...

in November 2010 and has screened at several international festivals. It had its broadcast premiere on German channel

Westdeutscher Rundfunk Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (''West German Broadcasting Cologne''; WDR, ) is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the conso ...

on 30 May 2011 and was released on DVD in the United Kingdom in 2011.http://www.childrenoftherevolution.co.uk It was pitched at the 2009

Sheffield Doc/Fest Sheffield DocFest (formerly styled Sheffield Doc/Fest), short for Sheffield International Documentary Festival (SIDF), is an international documentary festival and Marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England. The Festival includes film sc ...

MeetMarket.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Children Of The Revolution 2010 films British documentary films Irish documentary films Documentary films about people convicted on terrorism charges 2010 documentary films Red Army Faction English-language Irish films 2010s English-language films 2010s British films