PBS to Release "Independent Lens : The Black Panthers; Vanguard of the Revolution"

PBS Distribution will release “INDEPENDENT LENS: THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION” on DVD and Blu-ray. Change was coming to America and the fault lines could no longer be ignored; cities were burning, Vietnam was exploding, and disputes raged over equality and civil rights. A new revolutionary culture was emerging and it sought to drastically transform the system. The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense would, for a short time, put itself at the vanguard of that change. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson (Freedom Summer, Freedom Riders) thoroughly examines The Black Panther Party, as he sifts through the fragmented perceptions of the movement and the Party itself.

“THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION,” will be available on DVD and Blu-ray February 16, 2016. The DVD and Blu-ray run time is approximately 120 minutes. The DVD SRP is $24.99 and the Blu-ray SRP is $29.99.

“THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION” is the first feature-length documentary to explore The Black Panther Party, its significance to the broader American cultural and political awakening for black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails. Master documentarian Nelson goes straight to the source, weaving a treasure trove of rare archival footage with the voices of the people who were there: police, FBI informants, journalists, white supporters and detractors, and Black Panthers who remained loyal to the party and those who left it. Featuring Kathleen Cleaver, Jamal Joseph, and dozens of others, this film is an essential history and a vibrant chronicle of this pivotal movement that gave rise to a new revolutionary culture in America.

As Nelson states, “To better understand The Black Panther Party is to be able to better reflect on our own racial climate and collective responsibility to ensure basic rights are fulfilled, not diminished, and that voices of justice and dissent are celebrated, not silenced.”
 

INDEPENDENT LENS: THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION

Street Date: February 16, 2016

Genre: Documentary
Theatrical Version Run Time: Approximately 120 Minutes
SRP: DVD $24.99 and Blu-ray $29.99
Format: DVD & Blu-ray