Freedom On My Mind

Until the early sixties, a form of racial segregation held sway in the south of the United States which was very similar to the South African system of apartheid: the black population was lacking in elementary civil rights, like the right to vote. This film brings the struggle for civil rights to life by focussing on the 'Mississippi Voter Registration Project', which took place in Mississippi between 1961 and 1964. The project was initiated by Bob Moses, also known as the black Ghandi, who called on the blacks to have themselves registered as constituents. The first black man who answered this call was murdered by whites. And this was not the last victim. Nevertheless, the action did produce results, for in 1965 blacks could officially be registered as voters. A striking aspect of this struggle was the support by white students, who came to Mississippi in large numbers and cleverly succeeded in diverting the racial legislation to attain the opposite goal. The film reconstructs this tragic period in American history on the basis of interviews and archive footage. It reveals the strategies being followed and concludes that the struggle was only partly successful, because the political leaders from the Democratic Party, headed by the President, did not fully comply with the call for justice and democracy for all. "If they had, the history of the 'turbulent sixties' might have looked very different." This year, the film was declared the best documentary at the Sundance Film Festival.