Spring Break
"The Weather Underground" Comes to WNMU
Avelino Maestas
Issue date: 3/11/04 Section: Arts/ Culture
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On Thursday, March 11 the documentary "The Weather Underground" will be screened in the Global Resource Center Theater. The film, recently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, portrays the lives and events touched by The Weathermen, a radical group of young Americans who fought a political revolution across the country during the 1970s.
Several former members of The Weathermen speak during the film, addressing the causes that caused them to take up arms and become some of the FBI's most wanted fugitives. For many of the former members, this film contains their first public words about their roles as Weathermen, as well as reflections on the violence they used.
In a release, the directors, Sam Green and Bill Siegel, said, "During the group's hey-day, the Weathermen were extremely controversial. Operating underground and eluding the FBI for almost a decade, the Weathermen became Bonnie-and-Clyde-like figures." The directors also state that, "Thirty years later, the Weather Underground has been largely forgotten."
Most Weathermen were members of another group of student-activists, the Students for a Democratic Society. Splitting off from this peaceful group in 1969, the Weathermen undertook violent methods to protest the government and the war in Vietnam. While continuing to protest the government's policies, the group resorted to robberies, burglaries, and bomb-making, ultimately bombing the United States Capitol.
Mark Rudd, a former leader in the Weather Underground movement, will be present at the viewing. According to the WNMU-Silver City International Film Society, Rudd will introduce the film, and will also be fielding questions after the screening. Along with the Film Society, the film is being co-sponsored by the WNMU Society for Education in Politics. The screening begins at 7:00, and is free to WNMU students and faculty, and staff. For more information call 388-9557.
Several former members of The Weathermen speak during the film, addressing the causes that caused them to take up arms and become some of the FBI's most wanted fugitives. For many of the former members, this film contains their first public words about their roles as Weathermen, as well as reflections on the violence they used.
In a release, the directors, Sam Green and Bill Siegel, said, "During the group's hey-day, the Weathermen were extremely controversial. Operating underground and eluding the FBI for almost a decade, the Weathermen became Bonnie-and-Clyde-like figures." The directors also state that, "Thirty years later, the Weather Underground has been largely forgotten."
Most Weathermen were members of another group of student-activists, the Students for a Democratic Society. Splitting off from this peaceful group in 1969, the Weathermen undertook violent methods to protest the government and the war in Vietnam. While continuing to protest the government's policies, the group resorted to robberies, burglaries, and bomb-making, ultimately bombing the United States Capitol.
Mark Rudd, a former leader in the Weather Underground movement, will be present at the viewing. According to the WNMU-Silver City International Film Society, Rudd will introduce the film, and will also be fielding questions after the screening. Along with the Film Society, the film is being co-sponsored by the WNMU Society for Education in Politics. The screening begins at 7:00, and is free to WNMU students and faculty, and staff. For more information call 388-9557.
