Freedom Focus

ACLU Series Probes the Struggle for Freedom—Past and Present

In the run up to the Revolutionary War, Benjamin Franklin extolled his compatriots with an eloquent yet profound thought, one which was meant to open their eyes to the threat looming before them: “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

Over two and half centuries later, Professor Jeremy Kagan has echoed Franklin’s defense of liberty—the core value stated in the Declaration of Independence, second only to life for every American—with a dynamic 10-part series that he produced and directed entitled The ACLU Freedom Files.

Distributed via Court TV, Link TV and Zilo TV (which goes out to some 5.5 million college students around the nation), as well as over the Internet and in DVD format, the series tells the stories of regular citizens across the socio-economic spectrum who have fought to preserve their basic civil rights.

“We are being told that our liberties should be curtailed as ‘our lives are being threatened,’” explained Kagan, who teaches in the Division of Film & Television Production. “I made this series because I ardently believe Franklin’s words are just as valid today as they were in his time. If you take liberties away, then what kind of life are you living?”

With a unique blend of documentary footage, interviews, comedy, drama, music and animation, the 30-minute pieces cover a broad range of topics: Religious freedom, voting rights, Gay/Lesbian rights, women’s rights, youth, drug wars, the patriot act, the supreme court, dissent and racial profiling.

In touching upon these areas, the Freedom Files series seeks to depict not only the exigencies of our post-911 world, but also provide a broader perspective of the tension between the powers-that-be and the people that has been evident since the days before America even was a nation.

“We pretend the country is all about the ideals of liberty, but our own history shows there’s always been a continuing struggle to preserve and extend these rights,” Kagan said. “As a filmmaker and teacher, I’m constantly asking, if you want to influence people with moving images ‘how do these actually change behavior?’ Can a film or TV show alter people’s perception and motivate them to action?”

It’s a question that’s hard to quantify, yet with each episode Kagan and the ACLU are attempting to convey through video what Thomas Jefferson observed in the days following the American revolution: “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”

Kagan brings life to that thought by employing an intense contemporary editing style to drive home the facts. “I wanted immediacy and intimacy,” he said citing The Supreme Court episode, which documents the case of an Oklahoma high school student and her family as they stood united in front of the highest court in the land against a drug-testing policy they felt violated her right to privacy. “I want you to feel like you just entered these people’s lives and are experiencing the fight with them. In essence, their experience is your experience.”

The season premiered February 11, with new episodes to be shown throughout the year. Although the ACLU has a seemingly endless caseload from which to draw new material, it’s still too early to tell if more Freedom File episodes will follow the initial season. “We took a lot of chances with these shows,” Kagan said. “We experimented mixing styles and images and some of the results were unexpected. But with the experience of traveling this country and interviewing so many courageous people, my hat is off to all these amazing men and women all across the United States who get up in front of the courts and make sure that fairness applies in this country.”

For more information on the ACLU Freedom Files, visit www.aclu.tv