SUNDAY OCTOBER 25 (SESSION 26) Director: Judith Ehrlich Producers: Christopher Colorado Jones, Bill Prince, Judith Ehrlich
Description:
A man stands up and publicly burns his draft card in protest against
the Vietnam War. By the war's end, thousands will be imprisoned for
refusing to fight a war they think immoral. They form the vanguard of
the largest youth-led resistance movement in U.S. history. Folk music
diva Joan Baez, who learned the power of nonviolence from the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr., plays a central role. Dr. King visits Baez
during her 45 day-jail term in Santa Rita Prison for blocking the
Oakland Induction Center. He links the racial justice and peace
movements in an impassioned speech delivered at the prison gates. And
Dr. King stands at the side of World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad
Ali after he refuses induction – an act of faith heard round the
world. Ehrlich introduces a score of these resistors, including David
Harris, who falls in love with and marries Joan after seeking her
support for his new organization, “The Resistance.”
Biography:
Judith Ehrlich co-produced and co-directed Oscar- and Emmy-nominated The Most
Dangerous Man in America, Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers and The Good War and Those Who Refused to Fight It, both ITVS
documentaries. She is the only person to twice win the top history
film award from both the American Historical Association and the
Organization of American Historians.
Christopher Jones, film originator and producer, was a retired health systems
administrator and a former draft resister. He organized a reunion of
seventy resisters in July 2013 that became the genesis of this film.
He brought BOYS! to this point with the help of
a staff experienced in film direction, production, and distribution,
advisors both cinematic and activist, 142 volunteers, and his own
gritty determination. Christopher died in a tragic accident in 2019.
Bill Prince is a
retired psychiatrist whose involvement in the film dates back to the
beginning -- the 2013 reunion of antiwar activists that was the
genesis of the film. In the last year, he worked with the Advisory
Team, most of them former resisters, and with the creative team to
carry forward Christopher’s vision and bring BOYS! to
completion and distribution.
Contact information:
