Efter filmvisningen arrangerar Afrosvenskarnas Forum för Rättvisa ett samtal om Black Panther-rörelsens betydelse för svarta människor i stort, polisvåld och om normaliseringen av rasism och afrofobi globalt i dagens samhälle.

THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION
Initierad dokumentär skildring av Black Panther-rörelsen i USA, Black Panther Party skakade om etablissemanget och krävde samma rättigheter för svarta som för vita. 

Aldrig tidigare har en fullängds-dokumentär på djupet utforskat Black Panther Party, dess betydelse för USAs kultur i stort, den afroamerikanska minoritetens kulturella och politiska uppvaknande, och de smärtsamma läxorna lärda av en rörelse som spårar ur. Dokumentärfilmaren Stanley Nelson går direkt till källorna och väver samman en unik skatt av arkivmaterial med röster från människorna som var med på plats: poliser, FBI-informatörer, journalister, vita försvarare och förtalare samt Svarta Pantrar - de som förblev lojala till partiet och de som lämnade det.

Med medverkan av Kathleen Cleaver, Jamal Joseph och många andra är THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION en essentiell historieberättelse om en helt avgörande rörelse som gav födelse till en ny revolutionär kultur i USA.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
"Headshot of Director Stanley Nelson. Courtesy of Sam Aleshinloye Seven years ago, I set out to tell the story of the rise and fall of the Black Panther Party, a little known history that hadn’t been told in its entirety. In particular, I wanted to offer a unique and engaging opportunity to examine a very complex moment in time that challenges the cold, oversimplified narrative of a Panther who is prone to violence and consumed with anger. Thoroughly examining the history of the Black Panther Party allowed me to sift through the fragmented perceptions and find the core driver of the movement: the Black Panther Party emerged out of a love for their people and a devotion to empowering them. This powerful display of the human spirit, rooted in heart, is what compelled me to communicate this story accurately.

It is essential to me as a filmmaker to try and give the viewer a sense of what it has meant to be black in America and consider this within our contemporary context. The legacy of the Black Panther Party had a lasting impact on the way black people think and see ourselves, and it is important that we look at and understand that. As a great lover of music, I wanted to capture this sentiment in the music we used to give audiences a sense of the time and the undercurrents of change and revolution.

I knew that archival footage would be just as important as interviews when telling this story. The Black Panther history cannot be encapsulated in sound bytes and stills; the movement continues to live and breathe in the hearts and minds of those who endured. I had to dig deeper for footage that captured an authentic portrayal of the Party and which was not distorted by mainstream media. What I found was a treasure of personal records from former members and allies across the globe. These rarely seen images became an important character in the film, telling the story of how the Black Panther Party impacted all communities. There is something incredibly powerful in seeing an array of faces - white, Asian, Latino, black, and native - together at a Black Panther Party rally calling for the reform of corrupt and unjust state institutions."
 /Stanley Nelson, Director