The Way it Was: Five Easy Pieces from the 1960s

From: Jeffrey Sussman, Inc.
Marketing Public Relations
249 East 48 Street
New York, NY 10017 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For: Maysles Center for Documentary Films

Contact: Jeffrey Sussman
212-421-4475
marketingpro@aol.com
www.mayslesinstitue.org


THE WAY IT WAS:

FIVE EASY PIECES FROM THE 1960S


Harlem, NY --- The Maysles Center for Documentary Films (www.mayslesinstitute.org), founded by renowned, award-winning documentary filmmaker, Albert Maysles, will be showing a series of five films that bring back, in vivid and compelling detail, defining events of the 1960s. The films are Monterey Pop; Lot 63, Grave C; Gimme Shelter; Manson; and Jimi Hendrix in Concert, 1969. The mini-festival, running in conjunction with “Panthers and Lords: In Unity and Struggle,” offers a multi-faceted portrait of a seminal decade, of a counterculture that in many ways became the mainstream culture.

Following a list of films and the dates and times of the screenings:

Tuesday, December 1st, 7:30pm
Monterey Pop
Dir. D.A. Pennebaker, 1968, 78 min.
A documentary of the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, focusing on the audience as well as performances by such artists as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and The Who. Check out Mama Cass being absolutely blown away while watching Joplin sing.
Followed by a conversation with director D.A. Pennebaker and cameraman Al Maysles.

Wednesday, December 2nd, 7:30pm
Lot 63, Grave C
Dir. Sam Green, 10 min.
A murder took place at the Rolling Stones' 1969 concert at the Altamont Speedway outside of San Francisco. It was famously documented on film. Yet, the life of Meredith Hunter, the 18 year-old victim, remains socially invisible. Sam Green uses this tragic event to contemplate the powers that shape public memory along the lines of race and class, in life and in death.

Gimme Shelter
Dir. Albert and David Maysles, 1970, 91 min.
This is the landmark documentary about the tragically ill-fated Rolling Stones free concert at Altamont Speedway on December 6, 1969. Only four months earlier, Woodstock defined the Love Generation; now it lay in ruins on a desolate racetrack six miles outside of San Francisco.
*Followed by a conversation with co-director Albert Maysles and cameraman Kevin Keating.

Tuesday, Dec. 8th 7:30 pm
HOSTED BY MR. MICKEY OF PAPER MAGAZINE
Manson
Dir. Robert Hendrickson and Laurence Merrick, 1973, 83 min.
A documentary on Charles Manson and his family, featuring a number of insightful interviews with many Manson family members, most notably Squeaky and Sandy (Blue and Red). The film also features a history of Manson from his birth to the formation of his notorious family to the Tate/La Bianca murders.

Wednesday, Dec. 9th 7:30 pm
Jimi Hendrix In Concert, 1969
This documentary focuses on a classic performance from one of the greatest rock gods of the 1960s. It includes a memorable Harlem press conference with Hendrix.

The films will be screened at the Maysles Cinema, the only movie theater in Harlem dedicated to documentary film, which serves as a site of community based, low-cost popular education and entertainment. Its programming is selected in collaboration with its ever expanding community of viewers, independent curators, educators, and filmmakers. The Maysles Cinema provides a unique space for passionate, engaged and interactive exploration of topics of community interest. For further information, please visit www.mayslesinstitute.org

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