''Freedom Summer'' is a 2014 American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

, written, produced and directed by Stanley Nelson Jr. The film had its world premiere at

2014 Sundance Film Festival The 2014 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 16, 2014 until January 26, 2014 in Park City, Utah, United States, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance Resort in Utah. The festival opened with '' Whiplash'' directed by D ...

on January 17, 2014. It won the ''Best Documentary'' award at ''2014 Pan African Film Festival''. The film had its U.S. television premiere at

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

on June 24, 2014.

Synopsis

The film narrates the events of the 1964

Mississippi Freedom Summer Freedom Summer, also known as the Freedom Summer Project or the Mississippi Summer Project, was a volunteer campaign in the United States launched in June 1964 to attempt to register as many African-American voters as possible in Mississippi. ...

, when more than 700 student activists took segregated Mississippi by storm to resist the systematic exclusion of African Americans from the political process. Bob Moses of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee developed a campaign to bring a thousand volunteers to canvassed for voter registration, creating freedom schools and establishing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.

Reception

''Freedom Summer'' received positive reviews from critics. Rob Nelson of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', said in his review that "A well-shaped and powerful reminder of a time in recent American history when white supremacy was decisively and courageously undercut." Duane Byrge in his review for ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' praised the film by saying that "veteran filmmaker Stanley Nelson has crafted a searing portrait of those violent, racist times. Intelligently composed and powerfully driven, Freedom Summer is a stirring historical document. It would seem an essential addition for any university library." Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan of '' Herald Sun'', about the film said that ""Freedom Summer," for those who were born after 1964, brings home a time when wanting to vote meant threats of death on one extreme end, and losing your job on the other. It's a reminder why any new restrictions on voting, in particular those that impact African-American voters, are worth close scrutiny."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freedom Summer 2014 films American documentary films American Experience 2014 documentary films Documentary films about the civil rights movement Films directed by Stanley Nelson Jr. Documentary films about Mississippi 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language documentary films

Synopsis

Reception

See also

References

External links