Taking Of One Liberty Place, The
Price:
Higher Education Institutions & Government Agency DVD | $49.95
K-12 & Public Libraries DVD | $49.95
Home Video DVD License – Restrictions Apply | $5.95
Film Summary:
"When you say takeover, what kind of takeover do you mean?" -- A polite security guard facing a phalanx of equally polite protestors in The Taking of One Liberty Place
A moving, "you-are-there" document of the October 1, 1987 sit-in and occupation of Philadelphia's newest and largest office building, One Liberty Place. The demonstrators, many of who were homeless and/or members of the National Homeless Union, chose this building as a symbol of both misplaced corporate and government priorities and "why so many people remain homeless. So much is being done to develop a nice, tight, sterile skyline, you see?"
As protestors take over the lobby of One Liberty Place in an effort to bring developer Willard Rouse to their negotiating table, The Taking of One Liberty Place not only effectively captures the tension and drama of the moment, but also very powerfully makes clear that authentic community development and housing will be crucial issues in the years ahead.
Filmmaker Bio:
Louis Massiah is the founder and executive director of the Scribe Video Center in Philadelphia, a media arts organization that provides low-cost workshops and equipment access to emerging video and filmmakers and community organizations. He is an independent filmmaker who has produced and directed a variety of award-winning documentary films for public television.
Known for his explorations of civil rights themes and crises in the African-American community, his credits include two films in the Eyes on the Prize II series and The Bombing of Osage Avenue, about the burning of a black section of Philadephia as a result of the police bombing of the headquarters of the group MOVE. He is also the director of W.E.B. DuBois: A Biography in Four Voices. Massiah has received awards from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the the National Black Programming Consortium, the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters, the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and several Emmy award nominations. In 1996, he was a recipient of a five year John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowship. His current project, Haytian Stories, examines the complex relationship between the United States and Haiti over the last 200 years.