Chicago 10 - Safe to Go to the Democratic Convention?

Forty years ago, there was another election that centered on an unpopular war. In 1968, the Democrats gathered for their convention in Chicago, and were met by demonstrators who had organized what they called a "youth festival" to protest the war in Vietnam.

But after several days of peaceful demonstrations, violence erupted; the police used tear gas and clubbed demonstrators. A federal commission later called it a "police riot."

But the protest leaders were arrested and sent to a joint trial, where they became known as the "Chicago Seven." Now their story is the subject of an unorthodox documentary — called, Chicago 10.

Director Brett Morgen takes archival film of the protests outside the 1968 Chicago convention, combines it with actors reading from court transcripts of the Chicago Seven trial — there were no cameras in that courtroom — and animates the action through a technique called motion-capture. It's the same process used in films like The Polar Express and Beowulf, where actors are filmed and then have their images digitally painted into virtual environments, so that they seem like characters in a video game.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• chicago
• 10
• 1968
• motion
• capture
• vietnam
• seven
• brett
• morgen

[Debrevol]

Denver Detention Center Concentration Camps for this year's DNC Convention.