Sacco And Vanzetti Documentary

The Untold Story of SACCO AND VANZETTI Comes to Life

[Scheduled For Release January 07]
www.firstrunfeatures.com

Synopsis:

"Sacco and Vanzetti" brings to life the personal, political and legal aspects of the heartbreaking story behind Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian immigrant anarchists who were accused of a murder in 1920, and executed in Boston in 1927 after a notoriously prejudiced trial. It is the first major documentary film about this landmark story.

The ordeal of Sacco and Vanzetti came to symbolize the bigotry and intolerance directed at immigrants and dissenters in America, and millions of people in the U.S. around the world protested on their behalf. Nearly eighty years later, the story continues to have great resonance, as civil liberties and the rights of immigrants are again under attack.

The powerful prison writings of Sacco and Vanzetti are read by actors John Turturro and Tony Shalhoub. A chorus of passionate commentators propels the narrative, including Howard Zinn, Arlo Guthrie, Studs Terkel, and a number of older people with personal connections to the story. Artwork, music, poetry, and feature film clips about the case are interwoven within the narrative.

Through the tragic story of Sacco and Vanzetti, and the inspiring images of those who keep their memories alive, audiences will experience a universal – and very timely – tale of official injustice and human resilience.

Director: Peter Miller
Cast: John Turturro, Tony Shalhoub, Howard Zinn, Arlo Guthrie, Studs Terkel

Release Date: January 21 2007
Official Site: FirstRunFeatures.com
Distributor: First Run Features
Genre: Documentary

Director Peter Miller states: “The story of Sacco and Vanzetti has urgent lessons to offer Americans today, and I have stayed up late for years and driven myself into debt in order to make this film and get this story told. As in the “red scare” of Sacco and Vanzetti’s time, present-day Americans have allowed fear and jingoism to erode our civil liberties, scape-goat immigrants, and compromise our judicial system. But even without the present-day connections, the story of Sacco and Vanzetti is a subject of extraordinary drama with unforgettable characters. I believe that an understanding of the past is essential for changing society in the present, and I look forward to bringing the story of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti to audiences at a time when their message is more important than ever.”

Peter Miller is a documentary filmmaker based in New York. His most recent work, The Internationale, about the legendary song of socialism and communism, was broadcast on PBS in 2002, received nominations for International Documentary Association awards in three categories, won Best Short Documentary at the Woodstock Film Festival, and was short-listed for an Oscar nomination. Peter has worked as a producer with Ken Burns on numerous projects, including the Jazz series, the Peabody Award-winning Frank Lloyd Wright, and the forthcoming series The War. He co-produced the labor history documentary The Uprising of ’34 (directed by George Stoney and Judith Helfand), co-produced Julia Newman’s Into the Fire (about American women in the Spanish Civil War), and produced the award-winning Black Panther documentary Passin’ It On (directed by John Valadez), which won over twenty film festival prizes including the Grand Prize at the USA Film Festival. He was coordinating producer of Barbara Kopple’s Academy Award-winning American Dream.