The Murder of Fred Hampton

(Howard Alk, US 1971, 88 min., 16mm)

UCLA Festival of Preservation Tour. A group of independent filmmakers in Chicago, fashioning themselves as the Film Group, set out to profile Chairman Fred Hampton, the charismatic 21-year-old leader of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, and ended up documenting the last nine months of his life. During production, in the early morning of December 4, 1969, Hampton's apartment and Party hangout was raided by officers assigned to State’s Attorney Edward V. Hanrahan. During the ensuing assault, Hampton and Mark Clark were killed and four others wounded. As the documentary goes on to argue, the raid was unlawful and Hampton’s death was, in effect, an assassination. Preservation funded by the National Film Preservation Foundation and the Packard Humanities Institute. 

Preceded by The Jungle (Charlie “Brown” Davis, US 1967, 22 min., 35mm), a short documentary created by teenagers about street life in North Philadelphia. Funding provided by the National Film Preservation Foundation.

Presented in partnership with Metro Justice.