On Sunday, January 20, GenerationEngage and Participant Productions will screen Chicago 10, an innovative documentary about the 1968 Democratic Convention. All are welcome to attend this community screening, as we observe, remember, and celebrate the Martin Luther King holiday. Immediately following the film, GenerationEngage will host a forum with local civic leaders on the roll of young people as agents of change.

I recently had an opportunity to interview the film’s director, Brett Morgan, about Chicago 10 and why this story of youth civic action is particularly relevant today. We talked about the film’s presentation of contemporary history, its mix of bold and original animation with archival footage and an innovative musical score, its exploration of the build-up and unraveling of the Chicago Conspiracy Trial of 1968, and its timeless call to action that all young Americans need to know.

Why does the story of Chicago 10 matter, particularly for young Americans?

Somewhere between the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair, asked me, “what’s wrong with your generation?” Why aren’t people doing anything? I said to him, maybe young people need to hear the stories of yesteryear told in a different way. My feeling was, if I am going to tell this story of (Chicago 10) protest, and the denial of freedom of speech, I wanted to put it in a peer-to-peer perspective where everyone on the screen is the same age as the young people and demographic I want to reach.

Is there a “call to action” within this film?

When the movie is over, you are kind of forced to ask yourself what am I doing and am I doing as much as I can be doing? I don’t want to say I am trying to be a provocateur. It is up to people to see the film and ask themselves, are they doing what they can be doing?

One things about “Chicago 10” that stands out for your audience is that Politics doesn’t have to be something dry. As Abby (Hoffman) would say, “It’s a party.”

When young people watch the film and see the footage of young people their age being beaten and continuing to march for something they believe in, there has to be a thought in their head. Are you willing to step outside your comfort zone?”

You incorporated the use of modern day musicians who color this historical footage with contemporary feel. Rage Against the Machine, Beastie Boys are just two I noticed. What was the aim in the music choice as you scored the film?

I did want to use music from the 60’s to help date the images but there is something interesting when you take images from that time… and then you throw something like Beastie Boys underneath it suddenly a scene that happened 40 years ago feel like it could happened last week. That was the effect we wanted. It was very important for me that the audience not see [the protestors] grandparents but as contemporaries. Music certainly helped produce that effect.

What do you want this film to accomplish with this film at the end of the day?

As a filmmaker you can’t ask for more than for someone to be entertained but also to have the conversation after the film be longer than, “did you like the it?” We wanted to give people an example of a time or an era where young people did take to the streets and get involved in a big way.

How does this documentary fit in the other political documentaries about this era?

This is experiential cinema, which is not your average documentary. We are not reproducing history, we are appropriating the 60’s and making a movie hopefully that is more about 2008.

Listen, I think one of the reasons we are doing these types of screenings with Generation Engage is trying to get the word out. It’s not easy to get people under 30 to go see a movie about the 60’s. It was important for me to do this film in a way more relatable. The beauty of working with you guys is that many of these young people have limited knowledge of the time and can experience it for what it is.

As a filmmaker, Brett Morgan doesn’t claim to be any type of prophet, yet there are many lessons people can glean from his film especially on this Dr. Martin Luther King holiday. Through a blend of ground breaking animation technology, archival video footage, and a soundtrack ranging from the 60’s to today’s music, Brett Morgan’s new documentary promises to inspire and challenge us all to decide what we are willing to do. He makes good on Abby Hoffman’s statement: “[Politics] is a party.”