Ráday Salon

Hurrah for our first Salon evening!

This past Thursday, Ráday Salon saw its inaugural event.  About 25-30 people gathered to watch the first two episodes of Eyes on the Prize (see original invitation).  The evening began with a little socializing around the food and wine in the kitchen, before we all gathered in the front room to start the show.  Michael set things up with some welcoming remarks, and also gave a bit of background to the films we were about to watch.  After the films, a group discussion followed. 

All told, our first Salon evening was a rousing success!  We did come up with a few ideas for fine tuning things next time (for example, elevating the TV so people can see better).  Also, after some discussion on the point, we've decided to cut back to showing only one video at a time in future.  People were all right with watching 2 hours worth of film, but because Friday is a workday and folks can't stay out quite as late, watching only one video would leave more time for discussion and conversation.

Thanks to all for coming, and we hope everyone enjoyed the evening as much as we did.  Hope you enjoy these photos of the night, too.  We look forward to seeing you again in two weeks, on Thursday, February 24th, for one more installment of Eyes on the Prize.

More information about the Eyes on the Prize copyright problems

In the original announcement about our Eyes on the Prize screening, we mentioned the copyright and distribution problem that the film currently faces. Basically, the filmmakers originally only had a limited license to use much of the archive film footage, photos, and songs incorporated in the film, so once those licenses expired, it was no longer legal to broadcast the film on TV. It was also not legal to sell any more copies.

This story first came to light in December of 2004. Below are links to a few articles discussing it.

Wired News article
Wired News was the first to break the story, with this article. It gives a bit of background to the issue, and also includes a slideshow of images from the film.

Wired News follow-up on file-sharing
Wired News followed up on the issue with a story in January about a group that had a started what they were calling a technological "civil disobedience" campaign to get the film out to a wider audience. They were encouraging people to download the film from the internet and organize public screenings, in defiance of US copyright law. Since this story was posted, lawyers for Blackside, Inc. (the company that produced Eyes on the Prize), have objected to their actions, and they have taken down the links to the films.

Boston Globe article
The story that Wired News first reported in December hit the major US newspapers in mid-January. This article appeared in the Boston Globe, and starts out with an explanation how even the song "Happy Birthday" caused a licensing expense for the film.

Washington Post article
The Washington Post also did an article on the issue, which, if you've already read the others listed above, does contain some of the same information. However, the Washington Post article doesn't just focus on Eyes on the Prize, but also goes into more detail on the copyright problem in the broader context of documentary filmmaking in general.

The other side of the copyright fight
JB Zimmerman is the nephew of Henry Hampton, the director of Eyes on the Prize. He also has a blog, and has been documenting his response to the copyright problem, and to the effort of some people to encourage downloading and distribution in violation of the copyright. His response shows how copyright is a double-edged sword, and makes the case that infringing on Henry Hampton's rights as an artist (by downloading and publicly broadcasting the film) is not the way to solve the problem of expensive and complicated copyright procedures hindering documentary film. NOTE: because Zimmerman's comments are in a blog (newest content listed first) you should scroll down to the bottom of the page and read the posts in chronological order by date.

Background links for Eyes on the Prize

Thursday night we will be watching the first two episodes, "Awakenings" and "Fighting Back". As promised, here are a couple links for those who would like more background information on the film.

The US public television station, PBS, which first broadcast the film in 1987, continues to maintain a resource database on the web for teachers using the film series in school. There is a wealth of related links on this site, including photographs, documents, and maps.

Washington University (St. Louis, Missouri) has a site on their library website that gives a brief summary of each of the episodes in the series. Also on their website is a comprehensive list of people interviewed for the film, with links to transcripts of the interviews, in many cases.

Inaugural event: Eyes on the Prize film screening

It's official: our Salon evenings are about to begin.  Starting Thursday, February 10th,over a period of a few weeks, we will be screening the documentary film series Eyes on the Prize.

About the film:
Eyes on the Prize, produced by an African-American film and television production company, is one of the best resources available on the US Civil Rights Movement.  The producers included extensive archival footage and took great pains to present the perspective of those who were directly involved in the struggle, using interviews with individuals who participated, and highlighting the efforts of the many people whose grass-roots work made radical social change possible, but whose stories are not often told.  As many of you already know, Michael was very active in the Civil Rights Movement himself, and is very familiar with many of the events and people depicted.

Because of its focus on the grass-roots community organizing that characterized the US Civil Rights Movement, Eyes on the Prize is not just a powerful historical archive, but an important resource for social justice organizing at any time and/or place.  And it has particular resonance for the Roma Rights movement in Europe today.

Unfortunately, Eyes on the Prize, which was first aired in 1987, can no longer be shown on television, nor can new copies be sold.  Because of the enormous amount of archival footage used in the 6-hour program, the filmmakers initially could only afford to purchase a limited period of rights to much of the footage.  Once those licensing rights expired, it became increasingly more difficult to find and view this extraordinary documentary.

Schedule:
The series is made up of six one-hour episodes, so we plan to show 2 episodes at a time.  The first showing will be on Thursday, February 10th.  We will show the next two episodes on Thursday, February 24th, and the final two in March.