American Experience: Freedom Riders Blu-ray - AV Item

AV Benefits:

Why the AV version? Because it provides additional usage options for PBS videos. AV versions come with limited performance rights so they can be shown in classrooms, at PTA meetings, during after school programs, and transmitted on a closed-circuit system within a building or on a single campus. They also can be enjoyed in admission-free public screenings, which also makes them ideal for use by library patrons and businesses involved in community clubs and organizations.
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Professional Reviews:

"...phenomenal stories...makes you wonder where fearless idealism in this country has gone." - Los Angeles Times

"...a superb piece of filmic journalism." - Variety

Description

• In 1961, segregation seemed to have an overwhelming grip on American society. Many states violently enforced the policy, while the federal government, under the Kennedy administration, remained indifferent, preoccupied with matters abroad. That is, until an integrated band of college students--many of whom were the first in their families to attend a university--decided, en masse, to risk everything and buy a ticket on a Greyhound bus bound for the Deep South. They called themselves the Freedom Riders, and they managed to bring the president and the entire American public face to face with the challenge of correcting civil-rights inequities that plagued the nation.
  
  Veteran filmmaker Stanley Nelson's inspirational documentary is the first feature-length film about this courageous band of civil-rights activists. Gaining impressive access to influential figures on both sides of the issue, Nelson chronicles a chapter of American history that stands as an astonishing testament to the accomplishment of youth and what can result from the incredible combination of personal conviction and the courage to organize against all odds.
  
  This documentary is based partly on Raymond Arsenault's acclaimed book Freedom Riders: 1961and the Struggle for Racial Justice.
  
  This DVD features subtitles in English (SDH)