American Experience: Freedom Riders

FAIN: TR-50006-08

WGBH Educational Foundation (Boston, MA 02135-2016)
Mark Samels (Project Director: January 2008 to present)

Production of a multiplatform media project on the Freedom Riders, the hundreds of Civil Rights activists who challenged segregation in interstate transport in the American South during the spring and summer of 1961.

This is a request to the National Endowment for the Humanities for a production grant to support an ambitious multi-platform project on the Freedom Riders, the hundreds of civil rights activists who challenged segregation in interstate transport in the American South during the spring and summer of 1961. The centerpiece of the project is a special two-hour film presentation of AMERICAN EXPERIENCE with a national PBS broadcast scheduled to coincide with the Rides' fiftieth anniversary in 2011. The Freedom Riders project also includes an interactive website, on which the documentary will be made available as streaming video; an extended series of vodcasts featuring Riders and scholars; a series of panel discussions and screening events, hosted by universities, museums, and humanities councils around the country; and a traveling exhibit for libraries, created in association with the Gilder Lehrman Institute.

Associated Products

Freedom Riders (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Freedom Riders
Writer: Stanley Nelson
Director: Stanley Nelson
Producer: Laurens Grant
Producer: Stanley Nelson
Abstract: Freedom Riders is the powerful, harrowing and ultimately inspirational story of six months in 1961 that changed America forever. From May to November 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives—and often endured savage beatings and imprisonment—for simply traveling together on buses and trains as they journeyed through the Deep South.
Abstract: This inspirational documentary is about a band of courageous civil-rights activists calling themselves the Freedom Riders. Gaining impressive access to influential figures on both sides of the issue, it chronicles a chapter of American history that stands as an astonishing testament to the accomplishment of youth and what can result from the incredible combination of personal conviction and the courage to organize against all odds.
Year: 2010
Year: 2009
Primary URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/
Primary URL Description: Companion Website
Access Model: Open Access
Format: DVD
Format: Web

Prizes

Heartland Film Festival Crystal Heart Award
Date: 10/16/2010
Organization: Heartland Film Festival
Abstract: The Crystal Heart Award is given every year to a selected group of independent filmmakers for demonstrating excellence in filmmaking and for best meeting Heartland’s mission.

Boulder International Film Festival People's Choice Award
Date: 2/20/2011
Organization: Boulder International Film Festival

George Foster Peabody Award
Date: 4/4/2012
Organization: University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications
Abstract: American Experience (PBS) Three exceptional documentaries -Triangle Fire, Freedom Riders, and Stonewall Uprising are reconized this year under the banner of this grand American history anthology.

Emmy Awards (3)
Date: 9/19/2011
Organization: The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Abstract: Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing Emmy Award for Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming

Freedom Riders named top film for schools by School Library Journal
Date: 12/15/2011
Organization: School Library Journal
Abstract: Freedom Riders named top film for schools by School Library Journal

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