Nationtime - Gary is the long-lost film that William Greaves made about the National Black Political Convention of 1972, when 10,000 black politicians, activists and artists went to Gary, Indiana, to forge a national unity platform in advance of the Republican and Democratic presidential conventions. The delegates included the entire range of political thinkers — Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale, Pan-Africanist Amiri Baraka, PUSH founder Jesse Jackson, elected officials Ron Dellums, Charles Diggs, Walter Fauntroy, Richard Hatcher, Carl McCall, plus key women in the fight for racial equality -- Coretta Scott King, Betty Shabazz, Fannie Lou Hamer and Queen Mother Moore (who was arguing for reparations). Entertainers Harry Belafonte, Dick Gregory, Isaac Hayes and Richard Roundtree lent their star quality and entertained the crowds. Sidney Poitier narrated the film.
One of the most powerful films Greaves ever made, this is the director’s original 90-minute version that was never released. Found in a Pittsburgh warehouse in 2018, the 48-year-old film was painstakingly restored by IndieCollect under the supervision of Louise Greaves, the director’s widow and filmmaking partner. It re-emerges at a time when the Black Lives Matter movement is galvanizing support across the nation. As we head into the presidential conventions of 2020, Nationtime is a must-see for all who care about ending racist attitudes and practices in this country, once and for all. (William Greaves, USA, 1972, 90 min.)
William Greaves (1926–2014) directed over 100 documentary films focusing on African American history, politics, and culture, and co-founded and hosted the groundbreaking TV news magazine, “Black Journal,” which won an Emmy Award under his aegis. His body of work is the subject of a forthcoming book from Columbia University Press and numerous retrospectives starting in 2021. For more information: http://www.williamgreaves.com/contact.htm and https://indiecollect.org/
Co-presented with BlackStar Film Festival and Scribe Video Center
