Norman Fruchter

The People's War

Shot in Vietnam in the summer of 1969, this documentary creates a vivid portrait of the countryside and ways of life during the war.

Summer '68 (Newsreel #505)

This documentary provides an in-depth examination of protest activities surrounding the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. It documents draft resistance, the growth of G.I. coffee houses, the development of alternative media and the early days of Newsreel itself. It is particularly useful in its exploration of the problems the movement faced in using mainstream media to broadcast its message. It is also a document of the philosophies, tactics, and problems of the student movement in the crucial year of 1968. It is most useful when background information can also be provided.

In the Country

During the Vietnam War, a young revolutionary, isolated with his lover in a country house, struggles to comprehend his self-inflicted inactivity and his alienation from former political associates.

Troublemakers

Machover and Fruchter's intimate documentary follows the trials and tribulations of a group of Students for a Democratic Society militants in their attempt to politicize and organize the people of Newark, New Jersey. For Amos Vogel, Troublemakers was one of the best films of the New Left because it eschewed "both clichés and propaganda" in favor of "honesty" and "careful exploration." A must watch both for activists and political documentarians. (Doc Films)