"A fascinating, funny, and finally poignant portrait
of idealism under siege."-New York Times COMMUNE 20th Anniversary Restoration
Opens July 11 at DCTV's Firehouse Cinema in New York City
and then Nationwide
Director Jonathan Berman, editor Michael Taylor, and composer Elliott Sharp will attend the New York premiere and are available for interviews. Commune and co-housing participants will also attend screenings.
We are re-releasing Commune on its 20th Anniversary because of the urgent struggles in Trump’s America, wherein people are seeking solutions of every kind to an increasing authoritarianism. As feminist activist Carol Hanisch wrote in 1969, 'the personal is political,' and nothing is more personal than how we live and the who, what, and where of the place we call home.
In 1968, two hippies hiking near Mt. Shasta in Northern California stumbled across an unlikely property for sale: an abandoned goldmine and surrounding land, 300 acres for $22,000. Fueled by contributions from the Doors, the Monkees, Frank Zappa and others, they bought the property and named it Black Bear Ranch. It quickly became the prototypical 1960s commune, with the motto “Free Land for Free People.” Utopian communities have always been a part of the United States, but in the 60’s and 70’s their audacious goal was to reshape the world with free love and common property – creating a revolutionary movement that would spread to the rest of society.
Newly restored and featuring interviews with several Black Bear alumni, including actor/activist Peter Coyote, Commune is the first modern documentary to deal with communal living and cults. With a wealth of photographs and home movies, Commune offers a candid look into the joys and difficulties of communal life – including free love, nude farming, survival in the wilderness, multiple-parent childrearing, strife, jealousy and sometimes even endangered lives. In our modern high-tech world, we face a plague of loneliness and growing interest in revolutionizing the way we live. Is coming together the cure? Or perhaps, as Sartre wrote 'hell is – other people!'
"A breezy, informal history of a long-running California commune begun in the summer of 1968 and still in existence, offers the fascinating spectacle of observing people then and now.” - The New York Times "Poignant, affectionate, and refreshingly honest about the counterculture's contradictions." - Village Voice
"An unvarnished but loving look at one of the boldest social experiments of the 20th century." - Los Angeles Times
"Revealing.
A small-scale revolution that succeeded almost in spite of itself." - Seattle Times
"Extraordinary!
Stands out for its ambiguity, honesty and sheer human clarity." - Salon.com
"Captivating! A quintessential ‘60s phenomenon." - New York Post
COMMUNE: 20th Anniversary Restoration
A film by Jonathan Berman Featuring Peter Coyote and the People of the Black Bear Ranch Co-producer Christian Ettinger Music Elliott Sharp Editors Michael Taylor & Marisa Simpson 78 minutes, color, 2005
Diretor Biography
Jonathan Berman (Producer/Director) began as a stock footage researcher and assistant editor. He is director and producer of The Shvitz, a film about the last traditional steambaths in New York. His film My Friend Paul, about his relationship to his bipolar best friend, was produced for public television. Calling All Earthlings is an exploration of Joshua Tree and the area’s UFO-inspired dome, The Integratron. Berman co-wrote the story for On The Run, featuring Michael Imperioli and John Ventimiglia, and produced the NYC music documentary Sabbath in Paradise, which featured Harvey Pekar and John Zorn.
For a screening link and more information contact Kelly Hargraves
