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Pacific Street Films is a documentary film production company founded in Brooklyn, New York in 1969 by Joel Sucher and Steven Fischler. They have produced more than 100 films.
In 2004 the Museum of Modern Art hosted a career retrospective on Pacific Street Films.
The Free Voice of Labor
Fischler and Sucher created the documentary film The Free Voice of Labor: The Jewish Anarchists in 1980 about the history of Jewish Anarchists in the United States. It focuses on the Jewish Anarchist movement that arose from sweatshop workers in the United States, along with their lives as new immigrants back then and their then contemporary retirement. The film's raison d'etre was the 1977 coverage of the closing of the Yiddish anarchist newspaper Fraye Arbeter Shtime. The film features scenes from Uncle Moses (1932); a Yiddish Language film about the labour struggles within the Jewish community in America. The film is noted for its use of music: collecting together various yiddish folk and political songs that interspersed around the film, including an early recording of In Ale Gasn/Daloy Politsey as a combined song.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Inciting to Riot | Student film. Covers actions of Transcendental Students. Grand prize winner at the National Student's Association Film Festival. |
| 1971 | Ipimpi | Independent documentary about police infiltration of the Black Panther Party. |
| 1971 | Surveillance: Who's Watching? | An investigation of police surveillance of political dissidents around the country. Produced for National Educational Television. (clip on YouTube) |
| 1972 | Red Squad | An Independent documentary investigating the surveillance activities of the New York City Police Department and the FBI. |
| 1974 | Frame-up! The Imprisonment of Martin Sostre | Investigative documentary on the wrongful imprisonment of black activist bookstore owner Martin Sostre. |
| 1975 | The Marijuana Revolution | Thirty-minute investigative documentary. Produced for WNBC-TV. |
| 1975 | Politics and Police in Stamford | Thirty-minute investigative documentary. Produced for WNBC-TV. |
| 1977 | Voices From Within | A documentary produced in collaboration with a group of long-term women inmates at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, New York. Funded by the NYS Council on the Arts. |
| 1977 | The Grand Jury: An Institution Under Fire | An investigation of grand jury abuse. Broadcast on PBS. |
| 1980 | Free Voice of Labor: The Jewish Anarchists | Documentary on the last survivors of the Jewish Anarchist movement and the final year of the long-running Yiddish Anarchist newspaper, Fraye Arbeter Shtime. Supported by the Guggenheim Foundation and CPB. Broadcast on PBS. |
| 1981 | Anarchism in America | Feature-length documentary on anarchism. |
| 1983 | The Cancer War | An investigation into the politics of cancer research. Broadcast on PBS. |
| 1983 | I Promise To Remember: Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers | The rise and fall of Rock ‘n Roll’s first cross-over group. Broadcast on PBS. |
| 1984 | Man's Best Friends | A one-hour investigation of the use and abuse of animals in medical experiments and product testing. Produced for Frontline. Broadcast on PBS. |
| 1984 | Albert Szent-Gyorgyi: A Special Gift | A portrait of the Nobel laureate. Produced for the National Foundation for Cancer Research. |
| 1985 - 1988 | Salute to Newark Take Me Back To Dear Old Newark |
Produced for WNET's Metropolitan Division. Eight 30-second spots and a 30-minute historical documentary. |
| 1988 | First City | Produced segments for this WNYC magazine series on New York City: "Tugs," "Brooklyn Bridge," "Homeless," "Arson Squad," "Parking" |
| 1989 | United Nations Peacekeeping | Educational film produced for the United Nations. |
| 1990 | Blue Helmets: The Story of U. N. Peacekeeping | A look at the work of UN Peacekeepers around the world. Narrated by Jesse Jackson. 90-minute PBS Special. |
| 1990 | Martin Scorsese Directs | Profile of director Martin Scorsese on the set of Goodfellas. Produced for American Masters. Broadcast on PBS. |
| 1991 | Lincoln-Douglas Debates | One hour documentary on the students involved in the annual New York City debate competition. Broadcast on Thirteen/WNET in June 1991. |
| 1991 | Jessica Lange: It's Only Make-Believe | Profile of the actress on the set of Cape Fear. Produced for HBO/Cinemax. |
| 1992 | Oliver Stone: Inside/Out | Feature length profile of director Oliver Stone. Produced for Showtime and the BBC. |
| 1992 | Lincoln-Douglas Debates | One hour documentary on the students involved in the annual New York City debate competition. Broadcast on Thirteen/WNET in June 1992. |
| 1993 | Lincoln-Douglas Debates | One hour documentary on the students involved in the annual New York City debate competition. Broadcast on Thirteen/WNET. |
| 1993 | Peacemaking | Educational program produced for the United Nations. |
| 1993 | Calculating Change | Examination of the campaign to overhaul math and science education in the US Hosted by Al Roker. Broadcast on PBS. Produced for the Urban League and Thirteen/WNET. |
| 1995 | Schools For Sale: Advertising in the Classroom | A critical look at Channel One News, the for-profit service that brings advertising into the classroom under the guise of educational programming. Hosted by Lewis Black. Produced for the Walt Whitman Center for the Culture and Politics of Democracy at Rutgers University. |
| 1995 | In Search of Peace | Documentary special on the relationship of the United States and the United Nations, on the world organization's 50th anniversary. Narrated by Paul Newman. Broadcast on the Turner Broadcasting System. |
| 1995 | To The Ends of The Earth | A history of the American Museum of Natural History's fossil-hunting expeditions. Part of the museum's permanent display. |
| 1996 | Troubled Waters, Vanishing Treasures | Produced for the American Museum of Natural History’s Endangered Species installation. |
| 1996 | Final Take: The Fertility Scandal | An investigation of the scandal at the University of California at Irvine Fertility Center, involving the illegal use of unapproved fertility drugs and the theft of eggs and embryos from patients. Broadcast on Lifetime Television. |
| 1996 | Sidney Lumet: An American Director | A portrait of film director Sidney Lumet, photographed during the production of Night Falls on Manhattan. Produced for Paramount Pictures and Spelling Entertainment. |
| 1998 | Intimate Portrait: Jessica Lange | Documentary profile of Jessica Lange. Broadcast on Lifetime Television. |
| 1998 | Intimate Portrait: Pamela Harriman | Documentary profile on the life Pamela Harriman, socialite and former Ambassador to France. Broadcast October 1998 on Lifetime Television. |
| 1998 | The Warrior Tradition | Five one-hour documentaries highlighting warrior cultures throughout history: Samurai, Shogun, The French Foreign Legion, The Gurkhas and The Green Berets. History Channel broadcast. |
| 1998 | The Other Half ... Revisited | Documentary comparing social conditions today with those that Jacob Riis documented in 1890 in his famous work, How the Other Half Lives. Funded by the Ford Foundation and CPB. Broadcast on WNET-TV. |
| 1999 | Exploring the World of Music | A 12-part television series, with a study guide and 3-set audio CD package, highlighting the principles of music, seen through a world music perspective. An international co-production with primary support from the Annenberg Project of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. |
| 1999 | Crime Stories | Three one-hour documentaries about notable trials from the past: The Jeffrey MacDonald Murder Case, Richard Speck: Born to Raise Hell, and The Trial of the Chicago 8. Broadcast on Court TV. |
| 1999 | From Swastika to Jim Crow | Independent documentary exploring the little-known story of Jewish refugee scholars teaching at historically black colleges before and during the Second World War. PBS broadcast 2001. |
| 2000 | Martial Arts: The Real Story | A two-hour special that explores a little-known world of secret martial techniques. From the mist shrouded hills of China to small backwater villages in Southern India, fighting techniques have been developed that require silent devotion, zealous commitment and above all, secrecy. Broadcast on The Learning Channel and ITV (UK). |
| 2001 | Speed Traps | This fast-paced, high-energy show takes an in-depth look at the history and technology of speed detection, and the equally sophisticated attempts at speed detection avoidance. Broadcast on The Learning Channel. |
| 2002 | Bravo Profile Nick Nolte | One hour documentary portrait of actor Nick Nolte. |
| 2002 | GoodFellas and JFK | Two productions for the AMC's "Back Story" series — Martin Scorsese's "GoodFellas," and Oliver Stone's "JFK." The programs take an intimate look at the story behind the story, revealing how these groundbreaking films struck a chord with audiences worldwide. |
| 2002 | The Economics Classroom | A teacher development workshop consisting of eight one-hour videos, website and educational materials. For Annenberg/CPB. |
| 2004 | City of Refuge | Installation piece produced for the Museum of Jewish Heritage to accompany an exhibition about Jewish immigration to New York City. |
| 2005 | Building Wealth and Risky Business | A series of educational videotapes designed to teach the fundamentals of financial literacy to High School and College students. Produced in collaboration with the National Council on Economic Education. |
| 2006 | In Debt We Trust | A Globalvision Production dealing with the widespread problem of why Americans are being caught up in the “debt trap” Joel Sucher produced the segment dealing with personal bankruptcy. |
References
- D'addario, Darren (March 18–25, 2004). "Dissenting adults: MoMA spotlights the political outsiders at Pacific Street Films". Time Out New York. Archived from the original on 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
- Pacific Street Films: 35th Anniversary Salute. Museum of Modern Art.
- "The Free Voice of Labor: The Jewish Anarchists". jfi.org. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
- "FREE VOICE OF LABOR: THE JEWISH ANARCHISTS - Cinema Guild Non-Theatrical". store.cinemaguild.com. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
- ^ "Free voice of Labor: Jewish Anarchists | Jewish Music Research Centre". jewish-music.huji.ac.il. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
- "In Ale Gasn\ Hey Hey Daloy Politsey | Jewish Music Research Centre". jewish-music.huji.ac.il. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
- Fishbein, Leslie (1983). "Anarchism as Ideology and Impulse: Anarchism in America (1981)". Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies. 13 (1): 17–22. doi:10.1353/flm.1983.a400648. ISSN 1548-9922 – via Project MUSE.
Further reading
- Blatt, Martin (1982). "History Workshop on Immigrant Anarchism". History Workshop (14): 165–168. ISSN 0309-2984. JSTOR 4288442.