''Freedom Riders'' is a 2010 American historical documentary film, produced by

Firelight Media Firelight Media is a non-profit filmmaking company founded by filmmaker Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith. The company is located in New York City. History Firelight Media began in 1998 as an independent non-profit documentary production comp ...

for PBS

American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...

. The film is based in part on the book ''Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice'' by historian

Raymond Arsenault Raymond Ostby Arsenault (born January 6, 1948) is an American historian and academic in Florida, United States of America. He has taught at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg campus since 1980 and is the John Hope Franklin Professor ...

. Directed by

Stanley Nelson Stanley Earl Nelson Jr. (born June 7, 1951) is an American documentary filmmaker and a MacArthur Fellows Program, MacArthur Fellow known as a director, writer and producer of documentaries examining African-American history and experiences. He i ...

, 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 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

. The film was also featured on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...

'' 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 The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", making it the seventh film designated in its first year of eligibility and the first in the 2010s.

Summary

The film chronicles the story behind hundreds of

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

activists called

Freedom Riders Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions ''Morgan v. Virginia'' ...

that challenged

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Intern ...

in American interstate transportation during the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

. The activist 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 The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

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 ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...

'' wrote, "One of the great social epics of our time." In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States

by the

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It is the first in the 2010s to be put in the registry.

Awards

* 2010: Official Selection,

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of non-fiction cinema. The festival is a program of the Center for Documentary Studies, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) at Duke University. ...

* 2010: Official Selection,

Maryland Film Festival The Maryland Film Festival is an annual five-day international film festival taking place each May in Baltimore, Maryland. The festival was launched in 1999, and presents international film and video work of all lengths and genres. The festival ...

* 2010: Official Selection, Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival * 2010: Official Selection,

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

* 2011:

Heartland Film Festival The Heartland International Film Festival is a film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana. The festival was first held in 1992, its goal is to "inspire filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion pictu ...

: Best Documentary Feature * 2011:

Japan Prize is awarded to people from all parts of the world whose "original and outstanding achievements in science and technology are recognized as having advanced the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and prosperity for mankind." The P ...

: Welfare CategoryLibrary List
Retrieved 2013-01-12 * 2012:

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

: Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction FilmmakingIMDb: Emmy Awards for 2011
Retrieved 2012-11-04 * 2012:

: Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming * 2012:

: Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming * 2012:

Eddie Award Founded in 1950, American Cinema Editors (ACE) is an honorary society of film editors that are voted in based on the qualities of professional achievements, their education of others, and their dedication to editing. Members use the post-nominal ...

: Best Edited DocumentaryIMDb: Eddie Awards for 2011
Retrieved 2012-11-04 * 2012:

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility ...

: Best Documentary Screenplay: ''Nominated''IMDb: WGA Awards for 2011
Retrieved 2012-11-04

References

External links

''Freedom Riders - Firelight Media''

''American Experience: Freedom Riders''
* {{American Experience 2010 films 2010 documentary films American documentary films Documentaries about racism Documentary films about the civil rights movement Films set in 1961 American Experience Films directed by Stanley Nelson Jr. Freedom Riders United States National Film Registry films Films set in the 1960s Films based on non-fiction books Primetime Emmy Award-winning broadcasts 2010s English-language films 2010s American films

Summary

Reception and legacy

Awards

See also

Further reading

References

External links