*They say, “you don’t know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve been.”
What better way to learn about our history than to converse with people who have walked greatness. James Baldwin is an African American icon within our modern history. He was a prolific writer, civil rights activist and storyteller.
EUR sat with Pat Hartley, co-director of I Heard It Through the Grapevine which follows Baldwin, leading a re-visitation to the civil rights movement. The film, which is now in 4K restoration, is a series of three being shown at the Academy Museum.
Hartley’s excitement is understandable as she prepares to showcase the 1982 film.
She told us, “I get very excited and enthusiastic when I listen to the people who were talking in the film.” Many of those people, according to the Harvard Film Archive, were activists and community leaders.
Hartley continued, “Their energy, their commitment, and their willingness to take on this whole situation really just energizes myself, and hopefully energize young to old.”
The Ciao! Manhattan director underscored that Baldwin was determined that this film not be about him, rather, the people in the film that helped bring the realization alive.
“I promised the people in the film that their stories would get told.”
Learn more about Hartley and her film with Baldwin by visiting her website. Watch the entire interview below.
From September 6-11, the Academy Museum will be screening the series celebrating the brilliant novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and civil rights activist on what would be his 100th year.
